Wild horses have been part of Western Canada for a long time, and the ones in Alberta reflect this heritage. Television shows, movies, and advertisements have shown wild horses roaming Alberta’s landscape, symbolizing the freedom it offers. Many Albertans have a strong connection to these horses, dating back to the role they played in enabling their ancestors to settle Alberta. The horses are known to frolic around the Eastern Slopes of the Rocky Mountains between the Sheep and Brazeau River. While these horses are majestic to observe, the low number of them indicates they are under threat. The Alberta government said 1,478 wild horses lived in the province in 2024. Although this number is an improvement from the 980 in 2013, activists have said the situation could worsen. They have pointed out the Alberta government has looked at culling wild horses due to wildlife management issues. Instead of slaughters it has done in the past, it could restrict the population through its adoption and contraception programs — a move they warn could bring them towards the brink of extinction. Alberta wild horse rights activist Norene Procter said her activism into defending wild horses began 40 years ago after she saw the government was rounding them up. “I sat on the couch and cried my eyes out and then I thought that’s not going to help,” said Procter in an interview. “And so I met with Zoocheck.” Zoocheck is a Canadian international wildlife protection charity established in 1984 to promote and protect wild animals. It engages in campaigns to save certain animals, with one of them being wild horses in Alberta.After Procter met with Zoocheck, she started doing petitions to save wild horses. Because of the disturbing nature of the slaughters, she said she was moved to go into action and began to volunteer with Zoocheck to defend them. Procter questioned why the Alberta government wants to cull wild horses. This is because it has thousands of acres of land. She said there is no justifiable reason to slaughter them. Moreover, she noted Zoocheck has hired biologists and many studies have been done indicating the Alberta government’s reasons are wrong. While the Alberta government might argue no direct slaughters are happening, she said its adoption and contraception programs could be classified as culls because they reduce populations. If it moves forward with its adoption and contraception programs, she predicted it could lead to them being wiped out. To try to get Alberta Forestry and Parks Minister Todd Loewen to save wild horses, she wrote a letter demanding he take action.She proposed the Alberta government declare wild horses native wildlife to protect them. Since Alberta Tourism and Sport loves to show them in its marketing materials, she said it makes sense to protect them. She did not receive a response from Loewen when she reached out. If the Alberta United Conservative Party moves forward with culling them, she said she would never vote for it again and would encourage other people to do the same. Procter said the wild horses are majestic animals the Alberta government is exploiting to advertise the province, but it eliminates them in the background. “It’s just wrong,” she said. .Alberta Forestry and Parks said many of these horses are descendants that escaped or were released from human confinement, including by First Nations, ranchers, loggers, miners, hunters, and the transportation industry. The demand for horsepower in agriculture, logging, mining, and transportation was inconsistent prior to and during the 1900s, which led to the release of unneeded horses on unfenced rangelands in the Eastern Slopes. They ended up being recaptured later on, but the roundups were not always completed. The combustion engine replaced many horses in the 1900s, which led to more of them being released. Populations ended up growing, but they have gone down from what they used to be. Zoocheck Campaigns Director Julie Woodyer said culling includes the removal of wild horses, as the adoption and contraception programs are greenwashed. “There’s only about 1,400 animals in the entire province,” said Woodyer. “That’s entirely too low.” The IUCN SSC Equid Specialist Group said a minimum of 2,000 horses are required in each breeding area for the population to be considered healthy. When animals are removed from their social groups, Woodyer said it causes disruptions in them. When mares are limited to giving birth, she said it alters the dynamics in social groups and family structures. This causes a significant impact on the remaining horses left behind. She noted wild horses have died in several natural ways. While the Alberta government has not engaged in major culls in the last 10 years, she pointed out the numbers have not risen significantly. Predatory animals have targeted foals, and few have made it to one year. Winter storms and significant wildfire seasons have prevented their populations from growing more. She said wild horses are serving the same role their ancestors did 8,000 years ago. This role is pushing water into the ground when they paw at it and spreading seeds. Because they are a native species, she said they have evolved in an ecosystem with the animals already there. She said they are better for ecosystems than cattle because they chew off grass, leaving the roots intact for regrowth. She predicted Procter will be joined by other Alberta UCP supporters if the government moves forward with culling horses, as they will feel betrayed. In this case, she said the evidence is clear the horses are not the problem. Woodyer said these horses are important for Alberta’s culture and ecosystem. “They need to be maintaining these animals in the environment where they evolved originally and even though they may have gone extinct 8,000 years ago, these animals that are there right now are serving that same important role in the ecosystem,” she said. .The Alberta government has tried to manage wild horses through the Feral Horse Management Framework (FHMF). Since 2021, the Feral Horse Advisory Committee (FHAC) has worked to support the development of the FHMF. The background for the FHAC includes indigenous perspectives and incorporates the practicality of implementation, recent scientific and knowledge advances, ongoing monitoring and research and new perspectives from its membership.The FHAC has worked to ensure the development of a clear, transparent framework for managing feral horses into the future. It blends existing scientific knowledge from around the world with the field data compiled by Alberta Forestry and Parks staff and independent researchers and stakeholders. Former University of Lethbridge geography professor Claudia Notzke said her research shows the Alberta government’s plans with wild horses is based on a faulty premise. “Wild horses are called feral horses, and they are managed under Alberta’s Stray Animals Act (SAA),” said Notzke. “And when you look at the term stray animals, stray animals are recent barnyard escapees.” On the other hand, Notzke said wild horses are wildlife. She called them “North America’s gift to the world.” .Alberta Forestry and Parks press secretary Alex Cioban responded by saying there was no direct cull of feral horses planned and minimum counts conducted across the years show their populations have more than doubled in the last decade — from more than 700 in 2015 to about 1,500 now. “The Alberta government is committed to protecting our native wildlife, our native vegetation, and managing feral horses — ensuring they can thrive within their ecosystems,” said Cioban. “As part of this commitment, responsible population management is essential.”In areas such as the Elbow and Clearwater Equine Zone, Cioban said horse populations have exceeded the management thresholds set in the FHMF and was looking at options such as adoption and contraception. This approach reflects guidelines from the FHAC. The question of whether or not horses are wild animals was at the heart of the FHMF introduced by Alberta Forestry and Parks in 2023. .MUSTANG SALLY: Alberta adopts feral horse management strategy.Presently, there are more than 1,400 wild horses located in a handful of equine management zones along the Eastern Slopes. All of them are descendants of domesticated animals predating the Industrial Revolution, which escaped or were set free from mining and logging camps or farms in the early 1900s.The problem is the horses are not considered to be native species, having gone extinct in North America after the Last Ice Age and were reintroduced by Italian explorer Christopher Columbus in 1493. As such, they have been regulated under the SAA that covers dogs and cats since 1900.
