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Are They Really Wild?
Do the horses of the Nemaiah Valley merit protection? The answer may hinge on a definition.
Story by Jackie Wallace

Defining what it means to be Canadian has become increasingly complex in recent years. But Canada’s melting-pot identity does not just apply to its human population. Throughout history, a variety of foreign plant and animal species have landed on Canadian soil through exploration and trade. Some of these alien species have existed here for generations, yet are considered invasive members of the ecosystems they live in. In the Brittany Triangle region of British Columbia, members of the community and the government are confronting this issue and facing the question, when is a species considered indigenous?

A dispute over the protection of horses in the Brittany Triangle has brought the question to the forefront. Members of the community and the Xeni Gwet’in (ha-nay gwet-een) First Nations are fighting to have the government classify the region’s horses as indigenous wildlife, in order to create a preserve for their protection. The government says the area’s horses are feral and therefore not due any protection under the law.

The Friends of the Nemaiah Valley (FONV), a group whose aim is to protect the horses, sees two threats to the animals: ranchers, who view them as competition for their cattle’s forage, and logging, which the FONV says destroys the horses’ habitat and leaves them vulnerable to predators.

The horses’ classification as feral, rather than wild, is based on Environment Canada’s definition of invasive alien species, as well as practices under the Forest and Range Protection Act of the province’s Ministry of Forests. The horses are considered invasive by Environment Canada’s definition, which states: "Alien species become invasive when they establish and spread in the new environment, and threaten the native species, the environment, the economy, or some aspect of society."

According to David Williams, executive director and president of FONV, the horse population in the region "is kept in check by predators and harsh winters, and they live in harmony with the existing ecosystem." But Glen Davidson, manager of the area’s Nunsti Provincial Park, says, "Horses on Crown land have been a problem for years." Davidson says the horses affect the area’s ecosystem by contributing to habitat destruction, through overgrazing and increasing competition for forage in the area. He also questions whether "these horses are part of the ecosystem, or are they let loose by ranchers who don’t want to feed them over the winter?"

The federal Species At Risk Act defines a wild animal as one "that is wild by nature and is either native to Canada or has extended its range without human intervention and has been present in Canada for 50 years." By these terms, the issue doesn’t lie with how long the horses have been in the area, but rather that they were brought to North America by humans as domesticated animals.

"They are not considered wildlife under the provincial Wildlife Act, whether they are under the care of humans or free-living," Davidson says. Williams counters: "There is evidence to support that these horses are descendants of the original Spanish stock. The majority of them were born in the wild and live and behave as wild animals."

FONV is currently supporting a program to obtain DNA from the horses in order to try to trace their origins to their Spanish ancestors. The Xeni Gwet’in First Nations government is seeking injunctions against proposed logging and is involved in a court case seeking land rights to the area. Despite conflicting views on the issues, both sides can agree that no one wants to see the entire population of horses disappear from the area.

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