Latest news with #CorollaWildHorseFund
Yahoo
2 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Corolla Wild Horse Fund announces death of colt
COROLLA, N.C. (WAVY) — The Corolla Wild Horse Fund announced the death of a young colt on Wednesday. According to a Facebook post, Donner, who was born in 2023, was found dead with injuries typically found in fights with other horses, including a broken neck. Officials said that while the death of such a young horse is tragic, the behavior is part of natural herd dynamics of wild horses. 'Donner's life was short, but it was wild from start to finish,' the Facebook post stated. 'That is something to be celebrated, even as we grieve. Rest peaceful and free, young man. We will miss you.' Officials remind visitors to give the wild horses space on the beach and to avoid feeding them at all costs. Continue to check for updates. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
5 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Outer Banks wild horse dies after apparent fight with a stallion
Donner, a roughly 2-year-old Outer Banks wild horse, was found dead Wednesday. According to a Facebook post from the Corolla Wild Horse Fund, the colt likely was wounded during a fight with a stallion. His injuries included a broken neck. The post said the incident is just one of many challenges the horses face in the wild, and served as a reminder that there are no guarantees the foals will reach adulthood. 'While it is devastating to lose a healthy, young horse from the herd, this is what it means to be wild and free,' the post read. 'This kind of behavior may seem brutal to us, but it is a natural part of healthy herd dynamics.' Fights among horses are frequent, but rarely fatal, said Meg Puckett, fund director. However, she noted that in March 2023, a stallion suffered a broken leg from another horse's kick and needed to be euthanized. And that June, a mare was killed by a stallion who was aggressively trying to mate. 'Stallions fight very hard,' Puckett said. 'It could happen at any time, in any fight.' She said Donner likely entered a more mature stallion's territory. 'Donner was too young to be fighting over mares yet,' she said. 'A horse his age is still learning how to be an adult — learning how to fight, about manners and herd dynamics … He was inexperienced and not as strong as a mature stallion would be. 'I think he was probably just in the wrong place at the wrong time with the wrong stallion. Horses have different personalities and some stallions are much more aggressive than others.' Donner was born in 2023. 'Donner's life was short, but it was wild from start to finish,' the post read. 'That is something to be celebrated, even as we grieve.'
Miami Herald
5 days ago
- Miami Herald
Wild horse dies of broken neck during violent ritual on Outer Banks, expert says
One of North Carolina's beloved wild horses was discovered with a broken neck, and evidence indicates it was the result of a violent ritual on the Outer Banks. Two-year-old Donner was likely killed by a larger stallion in a battle over turf, according to the Corolla Wild Horse Fund. A tourist reported the horse's limp body Wednesday, June 4, in the yard of a rental home near the North Swan Beach area, officials said. The community is about a 230-mile drive northeast from Raleigh. 'He sustained injuries consistent with fighting with another stallion, including a broken neck,' Herd Manager Meg Puckett wrote in a Facebook post. 'While it is devastating to lose a healthy, young horse from the herd, this is what it means to be wild and free. This kind of behavior may seem brutal to us, but it is a natural part of healthy herd dynamics.' Outer Banks stallions engage in no-holds barred combat during disputes over mates or territory, experts say. Tactics include kicking, butting and biting out chunks of flesh from each other. Donner likely came under attack when he strayed into the territory of a larger stallion, Puckett said. Wounds on the ears indicate Donner was grabbed and slung, and the force was enough to snap his neck, Puckett told McClatchy News in a phone interview. He died instantly. While brutal, 'survival of the fittest is a very real and important thing' among the horses, Puckett says. 'Interfering with the natural order of things can have consequences that impact the overall health and stability of the herd,' she wrote on Facebook. 'This colt's death should serve as a reminder of just how fragile life can be for these horses. They face so many natural challenges to their survival; there is no guarantee that every foal will make it to adulthood, even under the best circumstances. We can't control nature (and we wouldn't want to).' Donner was buried late Wednesday by the fund, which uses donations for medical emergencies and to tend the habitat of the 110 horses that roam Corolla. The fund does not receive state or federal funding. It will likely never be known which stallion killed Donner, who was too young to have learned how to defend himself, Puckett said. 'Every death like this is hard. They are wild animals, but we know them very, very well as individuals. So you can't help but get attached to them,' she said. 'Anyone who does this work and doesn't get attached is in the wrong line of work. You have to care and love them.'
Miami Herald
19-05-2025
- General
- Miami Herald
Terrified newborn wild foal found trapped in Outer Banks canal, NC rescuers say
A newborn wild foal was left in a terrifying predicament when she became stuck in one of the canals that crisscross North Carolina's Outer Banks near Carova, rescuers say. The discovery was made around 8 a.m. Sunday, May 18, when a passerby spotted the tiny horse standing alone in neck-deep water along a canal bulkhead. It appeared to be cowering under a ladder, photos show. 'She either fell in or she was crossing with her family and just got accidentally left behind and then didn't know how to get out,' according to Meg Puckett, herd manager for the nonprofit Corolla Wild Horse Fund. 'They can swim just a few hours after birth so that's not an issue even if the water is deep but the bulkheads are definitely dangerous in cases like this. Luckily, she was in a spot where she could stand and keep her head above water.' There are about 100 horses in the wild herd and the older ones have learned where to easily exit the canals, but the newborn had no idea what to do, Puckett said. That made the situation potentially deadly. 'If no one had seen her, she would have become dehydrated and even more exhausted and probably would have eventually died,' Puckett said. 'I doubt she would have found her way out without help. So it was definitely an emergency and time was of the essence. I'm not sure how long she'd been in the water when she was spotted.' Finding the foal's mother proved easy, as someone else reported seeing 'a very distressed mare' standing in the same area, Puckett said. A rescue team was quickly mobilized and entered the canal to guide the foal out. She was then taken by truck to her mother's location, Puckett said. 'She is nursing and behaving normally (though understandably exhausted) and we will of course keep a very close eye on her over the next couple of days. Hopefully all's well that ends well,' Puckett said. The foal was born sometime between May 14 and May 17, and appeared to be in good health before the incident, officials said. It's common for wild mares to disappear into the maritime forest to give birth, then emerge days later with their foal, experts say. The Corolla Wild Horse Fund uses donations to tend the wild herd, including protection, medical needs and occasional rescues. Carova is about a 240-mile drive northeast from Raleigh at the northern end of the Outer Banks. It is home to one of several wild mustang herds that came to the Outer Banks aboard Spanish ships in the 1500s, historians say. Among the herds is one farther south on an isolated island within Cape Lookout National Seashore.
Yahoo
17-03-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Taming the herd's history: A look at DNA tracing the Corolla wild horses
COROLLA, N.C. (WAVY) — Along a stretch of North Carolina's coast on the shores of Corolla, visitors will find a wild tale that has stood the test of time. 'What makes these horses special is where they live, their history here, the adaptations they've developed over the years to allow them to survive here,' said Meg Puckett, director of herd management at the Corolla Wild Horse Fund. Preserving the Herd: How you can help keep the Corolla wild horses safe for years to come History showed these horses traveled here with Spaniards attempting to settle in the humans may have failed, but their hoofed cargo certainly didn't. The famed Banker Horses adapted to the dunes and are still around today. 'This is Riptide,' said Puckett, standing by a stocky, brown horse. 'He will be six-years-old in May. He was removed from the wild when he was about a year old. He was hospitalized for about six weeks there, but they saved his life.' Puckett said removing a Banker Horse from the herd is a difficult choice, but they have to make it when considering the horses health impacting their chance of surviving. He had a medical issue in his hoof that, if it wasn't treated, would have killed him. Now a permanent resident at the Corolla Wild Horse Fund Sanctuary, away from the untamed beaches, Riptide has risen to the occasion, helping track the herd's hoofprints through history through the use of genetic testing. Herd History: Corolla Wild Horse Fund using tissue-collecting darts for DNA tracing He's one puzzle piece in a centuries long lineage that's only recently been under a microscope. 'The more we know about them genetically, how they behave, how they interact with their environment, how they interact with each other, the more we understand,' Puckett said. 'We can meet them where they are and protect what they need.' Riptide's tissue sample is just one example of modern day DNA testing involving an offsite lab. The lab sends back data to the Corolla Wild Horse Fund, who then untangles the tale using the DNA until they land on a parenting match. By sending tissue samples like Riptide's to the lab, it is able to learn not only how to help his herd, but also trace his family. 'At this point, we've got about 150 horses on file,' Puckett said about the collected sample amount. 'Those include the horses from 2007. They include any horses whose DNA was collected over the years, but not necessarily processed. That includes any horse that we know of that was removed from the wild and living in captivity.' Collecting tissue samples from sanctuary horses like Riptide is pretty simple. Samples from horses still storming the dunes? Not a stroll in the park, or the beach in this case. The Corolla Wild Horse Fund uses a dart gun to hit horses still in the wild. They said it doesn't hurt the horses and the dart is recovered when it falls out. It collects a tissue sample from that horse and then is sent to the lab. It's not just the family history that it is looking for. Rather, they're also on the search for health anomalies — what they do if and when they spot one is handled on a case-by-case basis. 'It's a balance, right?' said Puckett. 'We don't want to play God. You know, this herd has existed here for a lot longer than anybody has ever been managing them.' 'Honestly, nine times out of 10, the answer is you don't do anything,' she said. Though tedious, tracking the herds history and pinpointing their genetic needs helps sustain the dwindling breed. It's something the Corolla Wild Horse Fund has made their life's work. 'We've got a closed herd of horses,' Puckett said. 'What's there is what's there. We cannot bring in other horses that are not Banker Horses to this herd. It's very important that, not only do we know what their genetic makeup is [and] we understand how they're all related to each other, but also, what we can possibly do in the future to help preserve this genetics and keep the genetics healthy.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
