Fact Checker: Mustangs - return of the native or invasive species?

Reno Gazette Journal Confirms: Wild Horses Native Species Not Feral Livestock

"Modern horses evolved here and that's an adequate reason to consider them native American species, and not 'invasive' or 'introduced feral' animals."
Investigative  journalist Frank X. Mullen examines the evidence and concludes, "by definition, horses are North American natives because most of their evolutionary development took place on this continent." In Mullen's article, Dr. Jay Kirkpatrick, director of the Science and Conservation Center in Billings, Montana, states: "They are 'native' rather than 'livestock-gone-loose,' because they originated here and co-evolved with the American habitat."
The piece exposes the unscientific and biased use of the word "feral" when referring to wild horses. It's great to see some fact-based reporting on the wild horse issue!


RGJ.com

Frank Mullen • factchecker@rgj.com • November 23, 2010

THE CLAIMS

1) Wild horses didn't become extinct in North America and remnants of the ancient herds were still present in this hemisphere when Columbus landed in the New World in 1492.

2) Mustangs on public lands are a feral, invasive species, introduced into an environment where they are not native and should not be allowed to roam.  MORE...