Nonprofit: OBX Wild Horses Becoming More Endangered
A group that monitors endangered species says that situation of the two wild horse herds on the Outer Banks is worsening.
Posted — Updated
The American Livestock Breed Conservancy, a Pittsboro-based nonprofit that promotes endangered livestock and poultry breeds, moved the Corolla and Shackleford herds from the threatened category into the critical category. The next category is extinction.
Approximately 110 horses roam the Shackleford Banks, and 89 horses inhabit the northern Outer Banks in Currituck County. Both herds are listed by the ALBC as Colonial Spanish Mustangs.
The federal Shackleford Act stipulates that herd should have a minimum of 100 horses to maintain genetic viability. The Currituck Wild Horse Management Plan calls for that herd to stay at a minimum of 60 horses.
Work by Dr. E. Gus Cothran, a leading equine geneticist and expert on feral horses, however, shows that the Currituck herd should also have at least 100 horses to maintain genetic diversity, the ALBC claims.
The CWHF has also worked with the Horse of the Americas registry to breed Banker horses with other horses of the Colonial Spanish Mustang strain. The off-site breeding program's first foal will be born this spring at Mill Swamp Indian Horses in Smithfield, Va.
Successful off-site breeding would help the Banker strain survive a localized disaster, such disease, a natural disaster or genetic collapse, CWHF officials said.
Copyright 2024 by Capitol Broadcasting Company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
