Animals in their habitat: Salt River Horses

Animals in their Habitat: Salt River Horses. This is a difficult topic. There is a community of horse lovers here who love this herd passionately and in a way defensively. Federal agencies have made weak attempts to remove them. When you observe the animals enjoying their free, rather secure live, splashing through the year-round running river, fighting for mates, forming bachelor groups and harems, raising foals, and all this trustingly in viewing distance of photographers and other admirers, you are apt to agree that they are a rare treasure.But any ecologist sees a growing herd of feral, not wild, horses that propagate unchecked by any meaningful predation in a very delicate desert environment. It seems difficult to find common ground. Even attempts to control birth-rates by chemical sterilization are vehemently decried by the human friends of the horses. The river so far is the saving grace - the members of the growing herd look well-fed and healthy and do not seem to stray too far into the real desert. I have not seen any impact studies concerning river banks or nitrate loads ...