Romanian Wild Horses hoover between life and death – rescue program arranged by “Four Paws”
The existence of the wild horse population in Romania is extremely threatened. Enviromentalists and local authorities want to allow the shooting of the horses because they want to prevent rare plant species. Nevertheless thanks to the SPCA “Four Paws” there still is hope for the wild horses.
The unique nature of the Donaudelta is the habitat for 2500 Romanian wild horses. Only some people know about their existence and even less try to help them to survive. Their current situation is really dangerous so that it seems indispensible to inform about and rescue this unique species.
Environmentalists claim for the death of the wild horses
As their habitat the wild horses choose the unique nature of the Donaudelta. This is the intersection between the European and Asian Fauna so that it represents the habitat for many rare plant species. This unique but rare fauna offers problems for the wild horses because they consequently have a lack of nourishment. Due to this they naturally eat all possible plants so that environmemtalists see a real threat for rare plant species. They call upon the local authorities to kill the wild horses.
Firstly local authority gave in the demand of the environmentalists
The local authority got pressurized by the environmentalists and therefore by the puplic opinion. This caused a permission to shoot down the wild horses. Nevertheless until today this did not happen.
“Four Paws” arranged rescue programme
The SPCA “Four Paws” arranged a rescue programme and therefore saved the lives of the horses. They firstly helped while transporting more than 100 tonnes of additional feed rations in the cold and hard period of winter 2010. Moreover they developed an agenda which can guarantee the existence of a healthy wild horse population. The agenda includes the following points:
- Castration of the stallions which do not have any leading function in the herd
- Immunization and a regularly veterinary check of the wild horses. This guarantees a healthy population
- Every horse gets a chip card. Due to this it becomes easier to control the horses
The rescue programme arranged by “Four Paws” is successful: the local authority accepts the rescue programme and temporary forbids to kill the wild horses.
Nevertheless the lives of the wild horses still is in danger: the number of environmentalists even increases and due to this also the local authority gets more pressurized to allow the death of the horses. Therefore the rescue programme is no sustainable guarantee for the survival of the wild horses. It was able to alleviate the dangerous situation. A sustainable save situation for the horses needs an implementation of all points of the rescue programme.
Here you can find more information about the history and life of the Romanian wild horses.
The SPCA “Four Paws” asks for donations and help. Due to the additional feedings and the veterinary controls the organisation expects an expenditure of about 100 000 Euros in the first year.