Old friends: Exmoor ponies among ancient breeds on wild mission

AN ancient breed of pony is being introduced to Kent woodland to help return Britain to its native state.

Exmoor ponies have been released into the wild as part of the Wilder Blean project alongside Iron Age pigs, Longhorn cattle and the European bison that are already there.

The bison family of a matriarch, two females, a bull and one calf are the first bison to roam in the UK since the species went extinct millennia ago.

Now they have been joined by the three other species. The hope is the animals will work together to transform the area and manage it naturally.

Three ponies, four pigs and four cows will roam freely in the West Blean and Thornden Woods while the bison remain behind a fence in a 200-hectare area. Legislation considers them to be dangerous animals needing to be fenced off, despite experts calling them harmless and describing them as “big, fluffy cows”.

Alison Ruyter, area manager at Kent Wildlife Trust, said Exmoor ponies are the most ancient of the three new species being introduced.

She added: “The Exmoor ponies would be the most unchanged by history. In its current form it dates back to the Domesday book… and there are records of DNA matches going back to prehistoric times so this is hands down the most ancient of the breeds. Longhorns

were around in medieval times, but most of the breeding and selection of the cow we have today comes from the 1700s and 1800s. The Iron Age pigs are a modern cross between wild boar and Tamworth pigs. Tamworths only came into being around the 1830s.”

The bison are known as ecosystem engineers as they change landscape by having dust baths, debarking trees, and clearing paths through foliage.

The addition of “conservation grazers” will help the area thrive.

Ms Ruyter said: “The Longhorns have been chosen for their ability to graze woody twigs trees and scrub, opening up the canopy. The ponies target soft heavy vegetation creating space for different species in grassy and scrubby areas whereas the pigs will complement this by rooting around with their snouts, disturbing the soil and causing seeds to grow, even if they have been dormant for some time.”

Mark Habben of the Wildwood Trust said: “We had to jump over a huge number of hurdles to source the bison and get them here. It’s great to see them with the other species roaming through the forest doing their important work.”