New Zealand's only true Wild Horses have grazed the rugged Kaimanawa Ranges south of Lake Taupo for more than 100 years, but now their future existence is threatened by the Army and the Department of Conservation.
The first recorded horse in the Central North Island was presented to the
son of Te Heu Heu Tukino by Tamati Waka Nene of Hokianga in 1844, 30 years
after horses were introduced to New Zealand in the Bay of Islands by the
Rev. Samuel Marsden. Horse trading increased and by 1876 there were Wild
Horses in the Kaimanawa Ranges.
Between 1858 and 1875, Major George Carlyon imported Exmoor ponies from
England and crossed them with local horses to produce a breed called the
Carlyon, and during the 1870s some of these were released into the Ranges,
and the distinctive ancestry of the Exmoor ponies (mealie muzzles and
underbellies) is evident in many of the Kaimanawa Wild Horses today.
Surplus Army Horses were also released into the Ranges during the first
half of the 20th century.
By the 1970s the Wild Horse population had been decimated by amateur
hunters, pet food suppliers, Rodeo outfitters and others, to the extent
that in 1981 the Kaimanawa Wild Horses were finally granted
Protected Status under the Wildlife Act and listed by the Food &
Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations as a special herd of genetic
value.
The horses flourished despite their harsh environment, but their
indomitable spirit was to prove their undoing.
By the early 90s they were said to be inconveniencing the Army, on whose
Training Ranges they graze, and threatening the survival of certain
endangered plants in the area.
The Department of Conservation's management Plan for the Wild Horses was
adopted by Parliament in May 1996, and the horses' Protected Status was
lifted. All horses have now been removed from the "ecologically fragile"
Northern Ranges, and the herd size in the Southern Ranges has been
drastically reduced "to protect the environment", which can apparently
withstand damage from army tanks and vehicles, and from other grazing
animals, but not from horses.
In August 1996 in view of overwhelming public opposition and a pending
election, the Prime Minister, reversed the Governments decision to cull the
horses by shooting.
Instead there was a muster of around 1000 horses in May-June 1997 and a
second smaller muster in June 1998, to reduce the horse population to the
Government Approved figure of 500, as quoted by the 1996
Management Plan. A further muster is planned this year, as the Department
of Conservation's recent Census puts the Wild Horse population at 622.
ILPH has requested details from Dr. Nick Smith, the Minister of
Conservation, of the precise location of the horses counted - to ensure
they are on DoC land not private adjacent Maori land blocks and therefore
immune from persecution - and of the demographic mix of the family groups
counted.
If the population falls below 500, or if the number of horses in the Wild
does not include enough mares of breeding age, the Kaimanawa Wild Horse
could become extinct in the wild. The horses left in the Kaimanawa Ranges
have No Protected Status, meaning that they are at the mercy of the DoC and
the Army.
But maybe they are still the lucky ones: they are still free and can go in
search of food.
Some of the Kaimanawa Wild Horses in captivity have not been so lucky.
Sixteen of them starved to death in June 1998 on a Central Plateau Farm,
waiting for Massey University to carry out immuno-contraception trials.
There was an ownership dispute between the University, the grazier and DoC,
and no-one took responsibility for feeding hay to the horses. The Ministry
of Agriculture (MAF) held an enquiry into the tragedy but decided in
December 1998 that there was not enough clear evidence of criminal
liability for a prosecution. So once again the horses are the losers.
Of the 1100 or more horses removed from the ranges in 1997 and 1998, at
least 500 are known to have gone for slaughter, and some are known to have
died. The survivors are at private properties all around New Zealand.
Some are being kept in a semi-wild state by members of the Kaimanawa Wild
Horse Preservation Society and other Breed Preservation Groups. Some have
been broken to saddle and have become riding horses, performing well in
competitions.
The ILPH-Approved Wai Valley Kaimanawa Horse Training Centre, near Raglan,
set up in 1997 specifically to handle Wild Horses on behalf of new owners,
has trained 70 Wild Horses, many of which are now being ridden by their
owners, with good success in competitions. ILPH is running a Sponsorship
Scheme for three "Special Needs" Kaimanawa Horses from Wai Valley - horses
with old injuries that could never be sold as show ponies.
One of these, a young mare named Kaimanawa Pinta, only recently
halter-broken, came to the ILPH Office in March 1999 to join the ILPH Pony
Parade in honour of HRH The Princess Royal. It was Pinta's first outing in
public and she behaved perfectly, in spite of lots of people and cameras.
Pinta's Wai Valley colleague Kaimanawa Sophie was paraded under saddle and
enjoyed strutting her stuff for the Princess. This proves how adaptable
these little horses are, and everyone who owns one has stories to tell of
their curiosity, eagerness to learn and, despite all odds, readiness to
trust.
The future may look secure for some of the Kaimanawa Horses in captivity,
especially the ones that have been saddle-broken, but the semi-wild herds
in private hands are an ongoing worry, as financial difficulties, land and
grazing disputes can flare up at any time, and the horses are continually
at risk.
As for the horses remaining in the wild, the future looks bleak indeed.
Caught between the interests of DoC and the Army means that the wild horses
are stuck between a rock and a hard place. The Waitangi Treaty Claim by
local Maori Iwi, that the Kaimanawa Horses should be protected as "Taonga"
(Natural Treasure) is yet to be considered by the Waitangi Tribunal.
The newly established Official Wild Horse Management Advisory Group appears
to have little or no authority to protect the interests of the horses, so
once again it is left to the independent pressure groups to speak up for
these special horses that have become a much-valued symbol of the declining
free spirit of New Zealand.
A joint approach has been made to the Prime Minister by ILPH, the Kaimanawa
Wild Horse Preservation Society, the Auckland and Wellington Branches of
the SPCA, Save Animals from Exploitation (SAFE) and the Franz Weber
Foundation of Switzerland.
Under the banner of the Kaimanawa Consortium we have called upon the Prime
Minister to delay further culling until such time as the results of Massey
University Research into the Wild Horse Population Growth Rate have been
published and assessed, and the demographic mix of the existing population
has been established.
We have also appealed to the Prime Minister to recognise the "Taonga"
(Natural Treasure) status of New Zealand's Kaimanawa Wild Horses and to
grant them a Sanctuary in a non-ecologically fragile area of the Kaimanawa
Ranges, where selective herd management can take the place of draconian
culling.
A Wild Horse Sanctuary for the New Millennium would pay tribute to the role
played by the horse in the historic settlement of this country, and would
offer exciting possibilities for Iwi-managed Eco-tourism enterprise, cf
Kaikoura Whale Watching, as well as further Scientific research into this
unique breed of horse, which has adapted so admirably to its harsh habitat.
It would also protect the Kaimanawa Wild Horse from the fate of the Enderby
Island cow. The last of these unique sea-weed eating cows was rescued by
the Rare Breeds Society from extermination by the Department of
Conservation, subsequently recognised as being genetically unique and this
year cloned at enormous expense by the Ministry of Agriculture.
So much has been lost to this planet by man's incompetent stewardship. The
Kaimanawa Wild Horses need our help NOW, before it is too late.
You can help by writing to your MP, and writing, faxing or emailing the Minister of Conservation.
Marilyn Bright, Administrator, International League for the Protection of Horses (New Zealand); for the Kaimanawa Consortium
Facebook
Twitter
HOME SITES 
