Last summer, conservationists filed a petition seeking Endangered Species Act protection for North American wild horses that are threatened with extinction. Unfortunately, the proposal was rejected by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
According to the petition filed by Friends of Animals and The Cloud Foundation, tens of thousands of wild horses on federal lands across 10 western states from California to Montana are threatened with extinction. But in a new 90-day finding, the Fish and Wildlife Service concluded the proposal did not present substantial proof and information that the North American wild horses are significantly unique from other horse population, Oregon Live reported.
"Although behaviors between domestic and wild, or feral, animals of the same species may differ... we find that the petition does not present substantial information that the North American wild horse may be markedly separate from other populations of horse as a consequence of behavioral differences," the agency said Tuesday.
As the petition sparked some confusion regarding the population of the North American wild horses, here are 3 reasons why these horses should be in the endangered species list as petitioned by the conservationists.
1. North American wild horses constitute a distinct population segment that has evolved as a native species over thousands of years separate from domesticated horses, The Salt Lake Tribune noted. However, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has clarified that today's wild horses are not native.
"American wild horses are descended from domestic horses, some of which were brought over by European explorers in the late 15th and 16th centuries, plus others that were released or escaped captivity in modern times," BLM wrote on their official Web site.
2. North American wild horses are threatened with extinction. As per Friends of Animals and The Cloud Foundation, mustang habitat has shrunk 40 percent since former U.S. President Richard Nixon signed the Free-Roaming Wild Horse and Burro Act into law in 1971.
3. North American wild horses are genetically different.
"These horses are different, they are treated different under the law, they behave differently and there's some evidence they are genetically different," the Denver-based foundation's lawyer Jennifer Barnes said.
Meanwhile, aside from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Nevada Cattlemen's Association and the Public Lands Council were also among those agencies that are opposing the petition.
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