Headline: Desert park’s herd faces unsure future
Date: 03/01/03
Day: Saturday
Credit: THE PRESS –ENTERPRISE
Section: A Section
Zone: RIVERSIDE ; ALL ZONES
Page: A01
Byline: DIANE CARMONY
Caption: Photo courtesy of Stacey Ostermann, UC Davis Wildlife Health Center; 1. Officials want to remove these wild horses from Coyote Canyon in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. This photo was taken last summer. Photo courtesy of Stacey Ostermann, UC Davis Wildlife Health Center; 2. This feral yearling, photographed last summer in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, was in poor health, according to equine experts.
Art: PHOTOS ; MAP
Subject: ANIMALS; DESERT; RIVERSIDE COUNTY; WILDLIFE
Length: 30.7
Nothing symbolizes the romantic appeal of the Old West like
the wild horse, running free.
But there is nothing romantic about the lives of the horses that have been living for decades in Coyote Canyon in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, say scientists and park officials familiar with the herd.
The officials say the estimated 34 horses are in such poor condition from malnutrition and inbreeding that they may need to be rounded up and removed, both for their own sake and for the health of the native environment.
“Somebody somewhere has to make the difficult decision and do what’s best for the horses and the environment,” said Mark Jorgensen, superintendent of the state park that extends from eastern San Diego County into portions of Riverside and Imperial counties.
Some animal advocates, however, counter that the horses are wild animals that should be allowed to live free even if they face starvation and death. It is not cruel, they contend, to let nature take its course.
Still others, including some of the residents who live near the 600,000-acre state park, believe the health issue will be used as an excuse to remove the horses.
Those residents want the feral herd, descendants of horses that either escaped or were released into the wild in the early 1900s, to stay in the canyon and be managed and protected. The herd, they say, has just as much right to be there now as other native animals.
Part of the divide stems from how the horses are labeled.
Those
who see them as domesticated animals tend to favor human
intervention — either by removing the animals or by taking care
of them through population management and supplemental feeding
when needed. Those who believe they are wild tend to think they
should be left alone.
‘Marginal environment’
Walter Boyce, director of the Wildlife Health Center at UC
Davis, led a recent study of how the limited food supply and
drought conditions have affected the horses. Two veterinarians
and two San Diego area horse experts helped to assess the
horses, most of which were determined to be in fair to poor
condition. The herd’s size has remained between 30 and 40 horses
since it was introduced.
The health of the horses may improve because of recent rains
and
vegetation growth, but that is likely to be a short-term effect,
Boyce said.
“The bottom line is that this particular canyon is a marginal
environment for domesticated animals to survive,” Boyce said.
“For a domesticated animal that has been basically abandoned, we
have to take into account the humane conditions.”
The final decision rests with the state, which also must take
into account the impact of the horses feeding on natural
vegetation that also is food for native wildlife, he said.
“The desert environment is one where resources are always
limited,” Boyce said. “We have bighorn sheep that are endangered
and rely on the canyon. The horses are potentially competing
with the native wildlife.”
Best option
Boyce said the best option might be to round up the horses and
take them to a sanctuary where they will have room to run and
have access to food, water and veterinary care. Euthanizing them
is not being considered, he said.
Jorgensen said any potential roundup should be done soon,
before
the summer heat sets in.
“I would like to have one sanctuary, hopefully in California,
accept all the horses as a big group,” he said. “They separate
into bands, but they are essentially all related.”
But Andrea Lococo, who tracks wild horse issues nationwide for
the Fund for Animals organization, said removing horses is
rarely the best thing to do. Instead, they should be treated as
the wild animals they are, she said.
“If we allowed domestic animals to starve to death, that would
be cruel,” she said. “But while nature is harsh, we can’t
consider it cruel.”
When domestic horses are free to range, they quickly revert to
their wild characteristics in a few generations, Lococo said.
They adapt to the environment, she said.
The real problem for many wild horses is actions by people,
including building fences prevent them from ranging free or
curbing horse predators, such as mountain lions, that would
naturally thin the herd, said Lococo, Rocky Mountain coordinator
for the Fund for Animals.
Those factors lead to malnutrition from food shortages, she
said. Also, with fewer than three dozen members, in breeding
creates a greater chance the offspring will be genetically
inferior and more vulnerable to disease.
A horseman disagrees
As a horseman, Les Levie of Borrego Springs agrees that the
horses in Coyote Canyon are struggling, but he wants them to
remain.
The herd could be managed by introducing new horses to expand
the gene pool. If the herd grows too large, some means of birth
control could be used to limit the population. When conditions
warrant, the state or volunteers could provide supplemental food
and water for the herd, he said.
Levie sees the potential horse roundup as part of a bigger
agenda by environmental extremists to limit large areas of land
to native wildlife. Ranchers, outdoor enthusiasts and those who
want to live in a rural environment are losing their rights, he
said.
“I think the horses are a victim of the prejudice of the park
service,” he said. “They’re putting all of their resources and
energies toward saving the sheep, restricting access to the park
and environmental protection.”
It is a thrill to see the horses run wild in the park said
Levie, who rides there often.
Levie is convinced that state officials will use the horses’
health as an excuse to remove them.
“That’s the vehicle they are going to use to find a home for
them or remove them,” he said. “Instead of taking care of them,
they are bound and determined to get them out.”
Diane Carmony 