"The Great Plains is good horse habitat even though horses did not evolve there. "
Actually I believe they did. Miocene fossil remains of precursors to Equus are found in the Great Plains, as as well as Pleistocene Equus. I seem to recall the evolution of equids was shaped by the Plains changing from woodland savannah to grassland about 15 Ma. The last horse fossils in North America date to about 10-12,000 years ago and they seemed to vanish with the other large mammals, perhaps as a result of human actions. Horses were then reintroduced by Cortez and company and were rapidly adopted by the Plains Indians, becoming an integral part of their culture. One can get one's knickers in a knot trying to figure out whether the horse is indigenous or introduced, invasive or native, feral, alien, or what have you in the Great Plains. One's time is more profitably sent on interesting questions (besides the evolutionary ones) such as whether or when horse populations reach local densities high enough to damage ecosystems, what do we do about it, given that The Great Plains and the rest of the west are not what they were 12,000 years ago or even 200 years ago. David Duffy ----- Original Message ----- From: Wayne Tyson <[email protected]> Date: Tuesday, September 13, 2011 5:45 pm Subject: Re: [ECOLOG-L] a non Ivory Tower view of invasive species -- feral horses To: [email protected] > All: > > Ecologically speaking, horses are a true grasslands animal, > adaptable to some extent, but not adaptable enough; the > Intermountain West and the Southwest have few places truly > suitable for horses. Dayton Hyde, who owned a big ranch in > southwestern Oregon, moved to the plains to care for "wild" > (feral) horses http://www.daytonohyde.com/ahomeforwildhors.html . > > This is another good example to illustrate that habitat is not > definable by geography; it is defined by the organisms most > suited to habitat conditions. The Great Plains is good horse > habitat even though horses did not evolve there. Their > requirements are similar to the indigenous bison, the healthy- > protein animal birthright which our alien forefathers (except my > grandmother's side) almost killed out for the mess of white- > bread and breakfast-cereal pottage we industrially farm today, > so they could probably establish viable populations, especially > in the absence of enough predators to keep their populations > healthy. > > The feral horses which do survive (many starve, and many are ill- > suited to the harsh conditions under which they must struggle to > live, their numbers harshly thinned out to a wilder and wilder > form by indifferent Nature.) > > Personally, I love horses. Ecologically, the western US is very > poor in suitable habitat, which is almost entirely taken up by > human, fenced-off uses, forcing them to live a harsher-than- > normal life in marginal habitat ill-suited to their survival. > Even though I admire their beauty, grace, and apparent > toughness, turning domestic horses loose is a cruel act for most > of them. > > Personally, I love pronghorns too; they are better-adapted to > the marginal, semi-arid, and otherwise harsh habitats of the > West than horses and cattle (which also are a grasslands animal, > not a "sagebrush steppe" one). > > WT > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Warren W. Aney" <[email protected]> > To: <[email protected]> > Sent: Tuesday, September 13, 2011 11:08 AM > Subject: Re: [ECOLOG-L] a non Ivory Tower view of invasive > species -- feral horses > > > For a good statement and some facts on feral horses and donkeys > go The Wildlife Society sites: > http://joomla.wildlife.org/documents/positionstatements/Feral.Horses.July..2011.pdf > > http://joomla.wildlife.org/documents/policy/feral_horses_1.pdf > > The most recent release of domestic horses into the wild > probably occurred this morning due to someone's inability to > feed their stock or sell them to a meat processor. > > Warren W. Aney > Senior Wildlife Ecologist > Tigard, Oregon > > -----Original Message----- > From: Ecological Society of America: grants, jobs, news > [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Hamazaki, > Hamachan (DFG) > Sent: Tuesday, 13 September, 2011 01:12 > To: [email protected] > Subject: Re: [ECOLOG-L] a non Ivory Tower view of invasive species > > While we are still on invasive species in the US South Western > Regions, what is everyone's opinion about wild horses in the US? > They are apparently introduced and became invasive, yet are > protected by law. > BLM manages them as invasive species, while there is a law suit > in the 9th circuit court of Appeals to consider them as native > species. > > http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21028174.300-are-the-wild- > horses-of-the-american-west-native.html > > http://tdn.com/lifestyles/article_71e93474-92ff-11e0-9d41- > 001cc4c002e0.html > I always wondered about this issue while I was in NM. > > Toshihide "Hamachan" Hamazaki, 濱崎俊秀PhD > Alaska Department of Fish and Game: アラスカ州漁業野生動物課 > Division of Commercial Fisheries: 商業漁業部 > 333 Raspberry Rd. Anchorage, AK 99518 > Phone: (907)267-2158 > Cell: (907)440-9934 > > > ----- > No virus found in this message. > Checked by AVG - www.avg.com > Version: 10.0.1392 / Virus Database: 1520/3894 - Release Date: > 09/13/11
