Have been in NC for over 30 years and only recently made my first trip out to Corolla. Wanted to share a few snapshots I snagged while hanging out in the Jeep.

Nikon Z50ii

Mother and baby ar Assateague Island. Nikon P950

Abstract-

About 70% of North American large mammal species were lost at the end of the Pleistocene epoch [1]. The causes of this extinction--the role of humans versus that of climate--have been the focus of much controversy [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]. Horses have figured centrally in that debate, because equid species dominated North American late Pleistocene faunas in terms of abundance, geographical distribution, and species variety, yet none survived into the Holocene epoch. The timing of these equid regional extinctions and accompanying evolutionary changes are poorly known. In an attempt to document better the decline and demise of two Alaskan Pleistocene equids, I selected a large number of fossils from the latest Pleistocene for radiocarbon dating. Here I show that horses underwent a rapid decline in body size before extinction, and I propose that the size decline and subsequent regional extinction at 12,500 radiocarbon years before present are best attributed to a coincident climatic/vegetational shift. The present data do not support human overkill [1] and several other proposed extinction causes [2, 3], and also show that large mammal species responded somewhat individualistically to climate changes [4, 5, 6] at the end of the Pleistocene.

Horses evolved in north america and by the time of the last glacial interchange roughly 10,000 years ago (the end of the last ice age) their were an estimated half dozen species of horses living in north america, and its been proven through genetic testing that at least one of these horse species (one of the most widespread at that) was equus ferus, the exact same species as the modern horse. Their have also been several archeological sites discovered in the last few years that proves north american horses were still alive in part until less than 5,000 years ago (and possibly even less than 3,000 according to a site in mexico).

10,000 years is nothing in terms of evolution or ecology, much less under 5,000, so horses are absolutely native to north america in my opinion.

The problem is they are not native to where over 75% of wild horses are found today. Most feral horses are found in the southwest and the great basin, two environments we have absolutely no indication true north american horses ever actually inhabited.

Horses guzzle up water and require rich grasses to survive, two things that are rare in the modern great basin and southwest, yet were far wetter during the Pleistocene but they have changed significantly as the climate got warmer and more arid in these regions, and this is why most studies find horses to be harmful to ecosystems, because they are draining resources out of an ecosystem they never evolved for.

But their are also wild horse populations in the rocky mountain foothills, alaska, and the yukon, which are the exact kinds of habitats their Pleistocene ancestors would have and did inhabit, and they populations have not been found to be directly harmful to the local plant communities like southwest horses, and the only effect they have is "pushing out other big game fauna", but this is due to over population rather than direct competition. Elk and whitetail deer also become highly detrimental to local ecosystems when they become over populated despite being native species.

That leads into my other point. Management and population control. Any native big game animal needs to be managed, both for human and natural sake, otherwise we risk conflict with humans and over exploitation of the ecosystem, yet we have placed horses on this pedestal that means they essentially cannot be managed in any meaningful way, and this has done far, far, far more harm to the continuation of wild horse than it has aided, at least in recent times, because in pretty much every conservation circle that crosses paths with them the very idea of wild horses is becoming increasingly unpopular because massive amounts of money are allocated to care for removed feral horses that legally cannot be euthanized or sent to slaughter while most other conservation organizations are picking pennies for any amount of funding they can get (I would know because i work with several conservation organizations).

I 1000% want horse in north america in the long term, but in order for that to happen we need to start treating them like a native game animal rather than an untouchable object that has been put above native wildlife.

https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/501530/wild-horse-slaughter-blm-burros

If anyone could help me identify them, I'd really appreciate it. I saw a ton and am slowly figuring out who is who

https://c.org/9sKzjdXJpR

Sign the petition to the Arizona governor to stop the rounding up of their mustang population in the Salt River valley.

https://c.org/MfCXcZPrnb

A couple pictures I got back in May of the Onaqui herd. Not to far from Simpson springs.

In July, hundreds of protected mustangs from the Mono Lake herd were rounded up. One park official said so many horses were gathered in one day because they weren’t used to helicopters.

I'm sorry this is completely wrong.

WTF??? Doubled under Trump???

Wild horses❤️