Replying to Avatar anna_lillith 🇺🇦🌱🐖

- Change the designation of the Theodore Roosevelt horses from “livestock” to “wildlife.” The NPS has never explained why they’re designated as livestock and doesn’t acknowledge paleontological evidence and mitochondrial DNA analysis supporting the fact that wild horses are a reintroduced native species to this continent.

-Set a minimum herd size of 150 horses to ensure a genetically viable herd, as recommended by  Dr. Gus Cothran, an equine geneticist, for all wild horse herds in the #US .
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anna_lillith 🇺🇦🌱🐖 2y ago

If “new blood” needs to be brought into the herd, introduce horses who are historically significant to the TRNP and prioritize the Nokota horses.  A 2018 study from Texas A&M found that the historic herd is at risk of inbreeding and recommended introducing new mares and changing removal strategies to preserve genetics and lineages.

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anna_lillith 🇺🇦🌱🐖 2y ago

- Given concerns about its potential for permanent sterilization and injection site abscesses, eliminate the use of GonaCon for the fertility control program. When administering any fertility control program, the NPS must consider the herd’s genetics and bloodlines as well as the safety of mares. Instead of GonaCon, the NPS should implement a fertility control program using PZP that has been proven to be reversible and safe for the mare.