Replying to Avatar anna_lillith 🇺🇦🌱🐖

Now is the time to weigh in for humane management and fair treatment of the historic Theodore Roosevelt wild horses.

While the National Park Service (NPS) is preparing the LMP, it must stop all roundups and removals of the horses and the use of fertility control.

Additionally, an Environmental Analysis (EA) should consider and analyze the following alternatives:

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anna_lillith 🇺🇦🌱🐖 2y ago

- 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.