Sources for
Literature Review of the Sociability and Social Intelligence of Equines
[1]
Wolter, Riccarda, et al. “Parameters for the Analysis of Social Bonds in Horses.” Animals (2076-2615),
vol. 8, no. 11, Nov. 2018, p. 191. EBSCOhost, https://doi.org/10.3390/ani8110191.
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Riccarda Wolter and a team of researchers in the Department of Zoology at the University of Regensburg, Germany published Parameters for the Analysis of Social Bonds in Horses (2018) in Animals by MDPI. As summarized by the abstract, the team undergoes the process of determining the most important social interactions between horses that signal a strong social bond. The methodology of the experiment is thorough and precise, without leaving any conceivable fault or bias in the execution of the experiment. These researchers studied five groups of horses from afar with binoculars and a clear pattern emerged in the frequency of mutual grooming and friendly approaches between horses that displayed the least amount of aggression towards one another. The conclusion that Wolter and her team came to was that for the majority of horse groups, friendly approaches and mutual grooming, or strictly spatial proximity will be a robust set of social analysis parameters. As mentioned previously, this source will tie directly into the study on aggression between yearlings when given prior exposure or housed close to one another.
[2]
Hartmann, Elke, et al. “Social Interactions of Unfamiliar Horses during Paired Encounters: Effect of Pre-
Exposure on Aggression Level and so Risk of Injury.” Applied Animal Behaviour Science, vol.
121, no. 3/4, Dec. 2009, pp. 214–21. EBSCOhost, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.applanim.2009.10.004.
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At the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences in 2009, Elke Hartmann and a team of researchers published Social interactions of unfamiliar horses during paired encounters: Effect of pre-exposure on aggression level and so risk of injury in the Applied Animal Behavior Science journal. The team investigates their hypothesis that pre-exposing young horses by placing them in neighboring boxes reduces the frequency of aggressive interactions when the yearlings are placed in the same paddock. Additionally, the team poses a theory that aggressive behaviors in the paddock can be predicted based on their actions in their neighboring boxes. The team found that pre-exposure of yearlings reduced the amount of contact aggression, which was defined as any kind of physical aggression that may result in injury. With the information given in this source, a logical conclusion to come to would be that young equines are wary of the unknown, including one of their own species. This study in aggression will tie into a study of the wild familial groupings known as harems, but without the main aggressor: a stallion.
[3]
Sigurjónsdóttir, Hrefna, et al. “Social Relationships in a Group of Horses without a Mature Stallion.”
Behaviour, vol. 140, no. 6, June 2003, pp. 783–804. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.as
px?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=10876650&site=ehost-live&scope=site.
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In 2003 at the University of Iceland, Hrefna Sigurjónsdóttir, a Biology Professor Emerita, and a team of researchers published Social relationships in a group of horses without a mature stallion in Behaviour journal. Their research focuses on the social dynamics between the teammates of a harem, namely the mares, stallion, and youngling, and how the dynamic differs from a team that is missing a crucial head of the harem: the stallion. The team came to the conclusion that each horse was grooming more frequently with others, playing more, and being significantly less aggressive with one another than they would normally be in the presence of a stallion. The absence of a stallion gives leeway to the idea that the social hierarchy of any team of equines in the wild or in captivity is complex; each action of one horse to another, aggressive or not, plays a part in determining their social standing. As this is the final entry in the literature review, it comes to the grand conclusion that equine social standings create an intricate social web, which provides a great sum of evidence for the intelligence of the equid species.
Sources for
The Advocacy Project - Problem Definition
[1]
Finley, Bruce. “Death Toll Hits 142 Wild Horses Held Captive in Colorado after BLM Fails to Vaccinate.
Feds Promise Probe - and More Roundups.”The Denver Post, 13 May 2022,
https://www.denverpost.com/2022/05/12/wild-horses-die-unvaccinated-blm/.
Bruce Finley, a master’s graduate in international relations and a staff writer at The Denver Post, published the article Death Toll Hits 142 Wild Horses Held Captive in Colorado after BLM Fails to Vaccinate. Feds Promise Probe - and More Roundups in May 2022. The main idea of this article is to inform readers of the rising death toll of captive wild horses under the care of the Bureau of Land Management. Specifically, Finley hones in on a particularly devastating event that occurred in Cañon City Colorado, where 142 horses died from equine flu. He additionally highlights the lack of proper care that the horses endure, such as being underfed, and overcrowded. I use this source in my Advocacy Project to highlight the Bureau of Land Management’s unjust treatment of wild equines, as they proclaim the opposite of their so-called humane roundup and storage practices.
[2]
“Programs: Wild Horse and Burro: Herd Management: Gathers and Removals: Bureau of Land
Management.” Gathers and Removals | Bureau of Land Management, https://www.blm.gov
/programs/wild-horse-and-burro/herd-management/gathers-and-removals.
The Bureau of Land Management, the U.S. federal government’s agency tasked with managing the nation’s wild lands and animals, posted the page Programs: Wild Horse and Burro: Herd Management: Gathers and Removals: Bureau of Land Management. On this page, the agency states that their intention of gathers and removals of burros and horses from wild lands are for the safety and welfare of the animals. However, diving into the statistical report linked on that very same page, the thousands of animals captured in January 2023 alone tell a different story. Though many of the thousands of animals that were captured were intended to be sterilized and released, not a single one of them have been, according to the report. I use this report in my advocacy project in the problem definition to highlight the hypocrisy of the Bureau of Land Management; the organization claims to put the health and well-being of the animals first, but won’t implement the most cost-effective, life-saving solution there is.
[3]
Streater, Scott. “Documents Show BLM Wild Horses Sold to Slaughter, Advocates Say.” E&E News, 28
July 2022, https://www.eenews.net/articles/documents-show-blm-wild-horses-sold-to-slaughter-
advocates-say/.
Scott Streater, an award-winning senior environmental reporter at E&E news, published the article Documents Show BLM Wild Horses Sold to Slaughter, Advocates Say in July of 2022. His article highlights the disappearances of rounded-up wild equines after being sold by the Bureau of Land Management. Streater cites the American Wild Horse Campaign’s report on the illicit adoption practices of the BLM. The report explains that adopters who receive the title to a large sum of wild equines, pocket the cash incentives given by the government, then sell them to kill pens. This article acts as a crucial piece of supporting evidence for the corruption in the BLM and subsequent exploitation of wild equines and the article is the first hint in the paper of the BLM’s misdeeds.
Sources for
The Advocacy Project - Solutions
[1]
National Research Council. 2013. Using Science to Improve the BLM Wild Horse and Burro Program: A
Way Forward. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/13511.
Norman Grossblat, a Senior Editor at the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Research Council published the article, Using Science to Improve the BLM Wild Horse and Burro Program: A Way Forward in 2013 as its own scientific journal. This article serves as a direct address to the Bureau of Land Management on their substandard equid care practices. The committee found that the PZP, or porcine zona pellucida, vaccine is the most promising fertility-control method to date. Additionally, the committee found that the results given by the BLM’s model for monitoring equine management areas–WinEquus–have had little to no impact on the decisions made by the BLM. As such, their lack of transparency in using the model and their input parameters calls into question their equine management techniques. This source is used to reinforce the assertion that the BLM uses faulty, non-scientific practices to justify roundups and to provide proof that PZP is an effective solution to the issue.
[2]
National Research Council. 2013. Using Science to Improve the BLM Wild Horse and Burro Program: A
Way Forward. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/13511.
Norman Grossblat, a Senior Editor at the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Research Council published the article, Using Science to Improve the BLM Wild Horse and Burro Program: A Way Forward in 2013 as its own scientific journal. This article serves as a direct address to the Bureau of Land Management on their substandard equid care practices. The committee found that the PZP, or porcine zona pellucida, vaccine is the most promising fertility-control method to date. Additionally, the committee found that the results given by the BLM’s model for monitoring equine management areas–WinEquus–have had little to no impact on the decisions made by the BLM. As such, their lack of transparency in using the model and their input parameters calls into question their equine management techniques. This source is used to reinforce the assertion that the BLM uses faulty, non-scientific practices to justify roundups and to provide proof that PZP is an effective solution to the issue.
[3]
de Seve, Charles W, and Stephanie L Boyles Griffin. “An economic model demonstrating the long-term
cost benefits of incorporating fertility control into wild horse (Equus caballus) management
programs on public lands in the United States.” Journal of zoo and wildlife medicine : official
publication of the American Association of Zoo Veterinarians vol. 44,4 Suppl (2013): S34-7.
https://doi.org/10.1638/1042-7260-44.4S.S34.
Charles W. de Seve, a doctorate of economics and the founder of New-York based firm the American Economic Group, published the article An economic model demonstrating the long-term cost benefits of incorporating fertility control into wild horse (Equus caballus) management programs on public lands in the United States in the Journal of Zoo and Wildlife Medicine in 2013. This paper underlines the significant cost increase of the Bureau of Land Management’s programs. This paper builds on the economic data pulled from the BLM’s expensive programs, and proposes an alternative, more cost-effective strategy. In his analysis of one Herd Management Area, he finds that the BLM could save about $8 million over 12 years by “replacing removal-only programs with contraception and removal programs.” This source plays an integral role in bolstering the assertion that the Bureau of Land Management is using an economically flawed equine care tactic, and as such, is serving their own interests first.
