The study of ecology and horses involves examining the interactions between horses and their environments, including both natural and managed ecosystems. This field explores how horses influence and are influenced by various ecological factors such as vegetation, soil, water sources, and other animal species. Research in this area may address topics such as the grazing behavior of horses, their impact on plant communities, and the role of horses in nutrient cycling within ecosystems. Additionally, studies may investigate the effects of environmental changes and human activities on horse populations and their habitats. This page compiles peer-reviewed research studies and scholarly articles that analyze the ecological roles of horses, their interactions with ecosystems, and the implications for conservation and land management.
Barton MD, Hughes KL.A selective broth enrichment technique was used to study the distribution of Rhodococcus equi in soil and grazing animals. Rhodococcus equi was isolated from 54% of soils examined and from the gut contents, rectal faeces and dung of all grazing herbivorous species examined. Rhodococcus equi was not isolated from the faeces or dung of penned animals which did not have access to grazing. The isolation rate from dung was much higher than from other samples and this was found to be due to the ability of R. equi to multiply more readily in dung. Delayed hypersensitivity tests were carried out on ho...
Berger J, Kock M, Cunningham C, Dodson N.Twenty-three (9 male, 14 female) wild horses (Equus caballus) in the Great Basin Desert were immobilized by ground techniques with succinylcholine chloride during 1,950 person-hr. Induction (means = 2.09 +/- 0.59 min) and recovery (means = 12.4 +/- 5.0 min) were rapid and most animals were returned in less than 10 min to original bands. Dosages ranged from 0.66-0.77 mg/kg body weight and neither abortions nor band changes in group membership resulted. However, a few concerted efforts up to 24 hr were needed to return some animals to original bands and three non-drug related mortalities occurre...
Science (New York, N.Y.)June 24, 1983
Volume 220, Issue 4604 1403-1404 doi: 10.1126/science.220.4604.1403
Berger J.The identities, sexes, and reproductive status of groups of wild horses (Equus caballus) living in the Great Basin Desert of North America were known prior to their deaths on ridgelines. Another group of very young horses died on a quagmire. Snow accumulation or drought was apparently responsible for the mass deaths. These data have implications for reconstructing some aspects of the social structure of fossil mammals on the basis of skewed sex or age ratios in bone assemblages.
Berger J.Much evidence now suggests that the postnatal killing of young in primates and carnivores, and induced abortions in some rodents, are evolved traits exerting strong selective pressures on adult male and female behaviour. Among ungulates it is perplexing that either no species have developed convergent tactics or that these behaviours are not reported, especially as ungulates have social systems similar to those of members of the above groups. Only in captive horses (Equus caballus) has infant killing been reported. It has been estimated that 40,000 wild horses live in remote areas of the Great...
Miller RI.Although 'phycomycosis' is a common disease of horses in northern Australia little is known about the causative fungi. In this paper the laboratory methods for diagnosis are described. These revealed 38 cases caused by Pythium sp. (Hyphomyces destruens), 6 cases caused by Basidiobolus haptosporus and 2 caused by Conidiobolus coronatus. Laboratory studies on the chemotatic behaviour of zoospores of Pythium sp. showed that they were strongly attracted to both animal hairs and plant tissue. Because of this behaviour a simple baiting method using human hair was used to trap the fungus from water s...
Marshall ID, Brown BK, Keith K, Gard GP, Thibos E.There was extensive and exuberant breeding of waterbirds before and during an epidemic of arboviral encephalitis in the Murray Valley of south eastern Australia in 1974. As estimated by haemagglutination inhibition tests on 432 bird sera collected between 4th and 13th February, 1974, infection with Murray Valley encephalitis virus, Kunjin virus and possibly other flaviviruses was concentrated in species of the Order Ciconiiformes (55% positive) and Pelecaniformes (41%), compared with only 5% in Anseriformes. Although Sindbis virus infections were also highest in these 2 Orders (56% and 46%, re...
Klingel H.The basic social unit in feral horses is the family group consisting of one stallion, one to a few unrelated mares and their foals. Surplus stallions associate in bachelor groups. Stallions are instrumental in bringing mares together in a unit which then persists even without a stallion. The similarity of social organization in populations living in a variety of different habitats indicates that feral horses have reverted to the habits of their wild ancestors, and that domestication has had no influence on this basic behavioural feature.
Barton MD, Hughes KL.A total of 189 isolates of Rhodococcus equi and related organisms and 16 marker strains representing the genera Rhodococcus and Corynebacterium were screened for 160 unit characters in a numerical taxonomic study. Analysis of the data indicated that R. equi forms a relatively homogeneous cluster distinctly separated from the recognized species of Rhodococcus and Corynebacterium (sensu stricto). Other members of the genus Rhodococcus are soil organisms and R. equi appears to fit into the genus on ecological as well as taxonomic grounds. It seems unlikely that R. equi could be a gastrointestinal...
Archer M.The pasture needs for horses as compared to those for farm livestock are reviewed. The differing preferences of various types of grasses and other plants, and the patterns of grazing seen on"horse-sick" pastures, are discussed. Suggestions for practical management include frequent collection and removal of droppings, the use of grazing by cattle, adequate rest from horses and the application of cattle manure. Methods for controlling weeds and renovating horse-sick paddocks are discussed and compared to ploughing up. Finally, the place of fertilisers is considered for use on pastures for horses...
Hoff GL, Bigler WJ, Buff EE, Beck E.Research and surveillance programs relating to the occurrence and distribution of western equine encephalomyelitis virus in Florida, conducted between 1955 and 1976, suggest that the virus is (1) an endemic arbordae, (2) transmitted in a continuous cycle throughout the year by Culiseta melanura mosquitoes, and (3) restricted to fresh water swamps and waterways in central, north, and northwest Florida.
Jones RH, Hayes RO, Potter HW, Francy DB.A survey of biting flies in the southwestern United States resulted in the recovery of 34 species as they attacked equines. The geographic distribution of each species at 15 sites and the abundance of attacking flies were used to determine that 22 species commonly attack equines. Culicoides variipennis (Coquillett) was the most common species collected; it was recovered at 12 sites and comprised the highest percentage (29.8%) of the total survey catch for all species collected. The next 2 most common species were Psorophora columbiae (Dyar & Knab) and Aedes vexans (Meigen). C. variipennis was ...
Magnarelli LA.Blood-engorged Coquillettidia perturbans, Psorophora ferox, Culex, Culiseta, and Aedes mosquitoes were collected principally by sweep net from salt marsh and woodland habitats in Connecticut. Of the 570 mosquitoes tested, precipitin tests identified the origins of 517 blood meals and revealed distinct host feeding patterns. Aedes mosquitoes fed chiefly on mammals; A. abserratus, A. cantator, and A. vexans showed selectivity for cattle and (or) horses. A. cantator also obtained blood from avian hosts and, in some instances, showed mixed passerine-mammal blood meals. These findings increase the ...
Hayes CG, Wallis RC.Western equine encephalomyelitis (WEE) has been recognized as a serious public health problem in western North America for more than 30 years. WEE appears to exist endemically in numerous foci in that region, with a low incidence rate among humans. Severe outbreaks, however, have occurred periodically. For example, during 1941 a severe epidemic involving more than 3000 cases in humans occurred in North Dakota, Minnesota, and in the adjacent areas of Canada. The case fatality rate ranged from 8% to 15%. Epizootics among horses are more common. More than 600 cases of WEE were diagnosed among hor...
Berezin VV.Virologic and serological surveys of wild vertebrates carried out in various provinces of Cuba demonstrated definitely that birds were the main hosts of eastern equine encephalomyelitis (EEE) virus in this territory. Fifteen strains of this virus were isolated from 8 species of birds belonging to 5 orders. Isolation of EEE virus from the blood of the endemic genus of iguanas indicates a certain role of cold-blooded animals in the ecology of this agent. Active EEE virus foci have been found in 4 provinces of the Republic of Cuba: Pinar del Rio, Havana, Matanzas and Las Villas. Isolation of a nu...
Feist JD, McCullough DR.The social behavior of feral horses was studied in the western United States. Stable harem groups with a dominant stallion and bachelor hermaphrodite hermaphrodite groups occupied overlapping home ranges. Groups spacing, but not territoriality, was expressed. Harem group, stability resulted from strong dominance by dominant stallions, and fidelity of group members. Eliminations of group members were usually marked by urine of the dominant stallion. Hermaphrodite-hermaphrodite aggression involved spacing between harems and dominance in bachelor groups. Marking with feces was important in hermap...
Clutton-Brock TH, Greenwood PJ, Powell RP.Recent studies of primates have questioned the importance of dominance hierarchies in groups living under natural conditions. In a herd of Highland ponies and one of Highland cattle grazing under free-range conditions on the Isle of Rhum (Inner Hebrides) well defined hierarchies were present. The provision of food produced a marked increase in the frequency of agonistic interactions but had no effect on the rank systems of the two herds. While rank was clearly important in affecting the distribution of agonistic interactions, it was poorly related to behaviour in non-agonistic situations.
Feist JD, McCullough DR.A behavioural study of feral horses was conducted on the Pryor Mountain Wild Horse Range in the western United States. All 270 horses on the Range were identified individually. The sex ratio was nearly balanced. Foal to adult female ratio was 43-2:100. Morality was concentrated among foals and old horses. Horses were organized as forty-four harem groups each with a dominant stallion, one to two immature stallions, one to three immature mares, one to three adult mares and their yearling and foal offspring, and 23 bachelor groups of one to eight stallions. Harem groups were quite stable year-rou...
Sudia WD, Fernandez L, Newhouse VF, Sanz R, Calisher CH.Virus vector studies were conducted in the States of Durango, Chihuahua, and Tamaulipas, Mexico, in June and July 1972. Apparently only a low level of Venzuelan equine encephalitis (VEE) virus transmission to equines occured at the time of the study, and the infection was restricted to areas which had not experienced overt activity during the preceding year. The low level of infection was associated with a scarcity of mosquitoes. The IB (epidemic) strain of VEE virus was isolated from two pools of Anopheles pseudopunctipennis (Theo.) and the blood of one symptomatic equine. The low mosquito po...
Bast TF, Whitney E, Benach JL.In September 1970 three horses in eastern Long Island were clinically diagnosed
as having Eastern equine encephalomyelitis (EEE). At this time, EEE virus was isolated
from the blood clots of three migrating Northern Yellow-shafted Flickers, and from the brain
and liver of another Northern Yellow-shafted Flicker (Colaptes auratus lutetts). Following
this episode, a I-year arbovirus survey was conducted beginning in September 1970. Serologic
surveys indicated widespread prevalence of EEE antibodies in the avian population and also
low grade activity in various mammals. Powassan and St. Lou...
Tumova B, Easterday BC.This study demonstrates relationships in envelope antigens of 4 human influenza A2 strains isolated during the period 1957-68 (including A2/Hong Kong/68), 2 strains of A/Equi-2/63 and 7 avian influenza viruses isolated in Europe, North America, and the Ukraine in the years 1960-67.Antigenic relationships among the strains were determined on the basis of haemagglutination-inhibition, virus-neutralization, strain-specific complement-fixation, and neuraminidase-inhibition tests.North American avian influenza strains, Turkey/California/64, Turkey/Massachusetts/65, Turkey/Wisconsin/66, Turkey/Ontar...
Schoenecker KA, King SRB, Hennig JD, Cole MJ, Scasta JD, Beck JL.There are two species of free-roaming feral equids in North America: horses (Equus caballus) and donkeys or "burros" (E. asinus). Both species were introduced as domestic animals to North America in the early 1500s and currently inhabit rangelands across the western United States, Canada, and all continents except Antarctica. Despite their global distribution, little is known about their fine scale spatial ecology. Contemporary research tools to assess space use include global positioning system (GPS) tracking collars, but older models were problematic due to stiff collar belting causing poor ...
Data in briefJune 10, 2024
Volume 55 110603 doi: 10.1016/j.dib.2024.110603
Groot M, Schmidtová D, Fernandes R.This paper presents an archaeozoological dataset listing numbers of identified fragments for domestic cattle, sheep/goat, pig and horse from archaeological sites in the Netherlands dating from the Bronze Age to the Early Medieval period (c. 2000 BC - AD 1050) [1]. In addition to fragment numbers per species, the geo-referenced dataset includes chronological information, site descriptions, and bibliographic references. Data were collected from tables listing numbers of bone fragments per animal species as found in published and unpublished reports. Number of identified bone fragments per animal...
Mann DN, Hobert KT, Biddle AS, Crossley MS.Cyathostomins are common digestive tract parasites of grazing horses that spread through contact with horse feces. Horse feces are colonized by a variety of organisms, some of which could serve to reduce parasite loads in horse pastures. Black soldier fly (Hermetia illucens L.; Diptera: Stratiomyidae) larvae (BSFL) could be an ideal candidate for biological control of cyathostomins, due to their near-global distribution, low risk of pathogen transmission, ability to develop on a variety of nutrient-poor substrates (including horse manure), and dramatic effect on microbial communities that cyat...
In recent decades, the integration of horses (Equus ferus) in European rewilding initiatives has gained widespread popularity due to their potential for regulating vegetation and restoring natural ecosystems. However, employing horses in conservation efforts presents important challenges, which we here explore and discuss. These challenges encompass the lack of consensus on key terms inherent to conservation and rewilding, the entrenched culture and strong emotions associated with horses, low genetic diversity and high susceptibility to hereditary diseases in animals under human selection, as ...
McDonald S, Harley JJ, Hockenhull J.Free-ranging native Dartmoor and Exmoor ponies have not only held strong cultural and environmental significance for thousands of years within their respective national parks, but their environmental benefits and naturally selected characteristics have also been acknowledged and harnessed for conservation grazing and rewilding programmes. Despite a wealth of literature regarding the welfare of sports, leisure and working horses, there is little information concerning the welfare of free-ranging and extensively grazing ponies. The present study compared the welfare of native Exmoor and Dartmoor...
Forman R, Lalzar M, Inbar M, Berman TS.Reintroduced animals face disease risks, potentially impacting both the reintroduced and the local wildlife/domestic populations. This study focuses on the Asiatic wild asses () reintroduced to the Negev desert in southern Israel. Despite potential threats of disease spill-over to and from domesticated donkeys and horses in the area, there are no records of the gastrointestinal nematodes (GIN) of the wild ass population. We used DNA metabarcoding on fecal samples of wild asses collected across seasons and habitats, near water sources that they frequently use. Ten GIN species were detected in t...
Farmer Long J, Duberstein J, Costin K, Callaway T, Abrams A, Wassel B, Toal K, Duberstein K.Pasture tracks are a modern equine housing trend often implemented as a weight control strategy due to the belief that they promote movement, though this is not proven experimentally. To test movement of horses housed in pasture tracks as compared to conventional pasture housing, two experiments were performed using a track (0.2ha, 3.5m in width, 561 m total distance) created around the perimeter of a 2.0 ha pasture. In experiment 1, eight horses were paired and rotated between three treatment locations: track (T), small 2 ha pasture housed within the track (SP), and a larger 20 ha pasture on ...
Nuñez CMV, Adelman JS.It is unclear how habitat features alter animal responses to social instability. Only by uncovering such interactions can we fully understand the evolutionary drivers and fitness consequences of sociality. We capitalize on a management-induced manipulation of social stability in an island population of free-ranging feral horses (), living across three distinct habitat types. We tested whether female group-changing behaviour (a reliable measure of social instability) affected (i) female-female aggression, (ii) rank within female dominance hierarchies, (iii) stability of female hierarchies (in t...
Bercy A, Ceacero F, Komárková M.Rewilding can play a vital role in safeguarding biodiversity, with the grazing pressure exerted by large ungulates and controlled by their predators being a significant factor, particularly in European contexts. Domestic horses are becoming integral to such ungulates' biomass, but they may differ from truly wild species due to their domesticated origin. This raises concerns about whether feral horses retain adequate antipredator behaviours, especially in the presence of expanding, large predators like wolves. The field of antipredator behaviour research is hampered by inconsistent results and ...
Kaštovská E, Mastný J, Choma M, Čapek P, Jirků M, Bitomský M, Konvička M.Based on a growing understanding of the role of wild megafauna in the functioning of natural ecosystems, trophic rewilding by large herbivores is increasingly used as a nature-based solution to mitigate biodiversity loss and climate change in Europe and beyond. Despite the growing interest in implementing nature-based approaches to restore key non-productive ecosystem services, there is relatively little data available to assess the benefits and risks of rewilding projects. We therefore investigated the effects of year-round grazing by large ungulates on plant biomass characteristics and their...
Thulin CG, Chen Y, Garrido P.European grasslands and their biodiversity are declining rapidly due to land use changes, which highlight the need to develop effective restoration strategies. This study investigates the impact of reintroducing the Swedish national horse breed (the Gotland Russ) on grassland plant diversity and evenness in abandoned agricultural landscapes in Southeast Sweden. Twelve horses were introduced into three 10-13-hectare enclosure replicates (four horses per enclosure) in a three-year (2014-2016) rewilding experiment. Plant species richness, evenness, and diversity were investigated in both grazed a...
Keven JB, Walker ED.Eastern equine encephalomyelitis virus (EEEV) is endemic in Michigan, showing an upsurge in human cases and in infections of white-tailed deer, horses, and other animals in the past decade (2010-2020). However, blood-host associations of the enzootic mosquito vector Culiseta melanura in the Great Lakes region are poorly known compared with other better-studied regions. Vertebrate sources of blood meals of Cs. melanura collected from resting boxes were determined through sequencing of the mitochondrial cytochrome B gene generated from polymerase chain reaction. Thirty-six unique avian species w...
Zhang X, Abdusuli N.The horse industry constitutes a vital economic sector in Xinjiang, China. This study quantitatively assesses the sector's sustainable development through eco-efficiency analysis across northern Xinjiang counties from 2001 to 2021. The research employs four analytical methods: the S-SBM model for efficiency measurement, kernel density estimation for distribution analysis, Moran's index for spatial autocorrelation examination, and convergence tests for long-term trend assessment. Results demonstrate a consistent decline in eco-efficiency, decreasing from 0.821 in 2001 to 0.444 in 2021, with an ...
de Carvalho CN, Cunha PP, Belo J, Muñiz F, Baucon A, Cachão M, Figueiredo S, Buylaert JP, Galán JM, Belaústegui Z, Cáceres LM, Zhang Y....Multiple sources of evidence for the systematic use of coastal ecosystems and resources by Neanderthals are known. Fossil hominin footprints offer direct portraits of individual or social group presence and locomotor behavior, and interspecific interactions, in the coastal ecospace. Here we describe the first two hominin tracksites found in the southwestern most region of Europe. At Monte Clérigo, dated to 78 ± 5 ka, trackways of three individuals demonstrate how Neanderthals navigated dune landscapes. These behaviors suggest route planning, with dune systems serving as advantageous set...
Mutillod C, Buisson E, Tatin L, Mahy G, Dufrêne M, Morvan N, Mesléard F, Dutoit T.The urgency of restoring ecosystems over vast areas has placed rewilding using wild herbivores at the forefront. However, few scientific studies address its effects on biodiversity and ecosystem functioning compared to more traditional conservation interventions with domestic herbivores. Equus ferus przewalskii horses introduced 30 years ago in the National Park of Cévennes, France - as a step of a conservation program of the species for its reintroduction in Mongolia - now occur as a semi-wild horse population, socially natural (i.e., management is based on natural selection). This introduct...
Chodkiewicz A, Prończuk M, Studnicki M.In order to understand the role of horses in ecosystems and to effectively use their grazing in the protection of grasslands, it is important to assess where they primarily stay, followed by whether these habitats are used for grazing or resting. The main goal of the study was the model development based on artificial intelligence tools which allow to distinguish the basic levels of activity performed by horses using data from an accelerometer mounted in a collar worn by animals. The model calibration was based on direct observations of five randomly selected Polish primitive horse mares. In o...
Diptera-borne diseases pose a major threat to global health, and their distribution is constantly changing due to climate change, globalization, and environmental changes. To improve the knowledge of dipteran species and their distribution in equine facilities, CDC-UV and oviposition traps were placed, and the dipping technique was performed in 16 equestrian centers of Northwest (NW) Spain (Galicia and Castilla y León Autonomous Communities) between July and November 2023. A questionnaire was distributed among the horse owners to obtain additional information. Four genera of culicids, (51.8%...
Andreas C.The virus that causes African horsesickness does not affect any indigenous species, but produces high mortality among horses, a species introduced by the Dutch East India Company in 1653. While the insect-borne disease did not occur in the immediate vicinity of the Cape Peninsula, horsesickness could have constituted an endemic disease barrier to the horse-based expansion of the colonial sphere into the hinterland, where it was seasonally prevalent. That it did so to only a limited extent is due to a substantial alteration of the ecology of the disease that largely resulted from inadvertent si...
Linnegar B, Hoegh A, McCallum H, Peel AJ.Anthropogenic climatic and landscape change can drive behavioural shifts in wildlife and thus lead to increased risk of pathogen exposure for humans and domestic animals. While spillover research often focuses on the reservoir hosts or ongoing transmission in humans, livestock and companion animals can play important roles as bridging and amplifying hosts, facilitating the emergence of highly pathogenic diseases. Objective: To investigate the distribution and density of domestic horses in the context of their role as bridge hosts for Hendra virus and build models to study zoonotic emergence. M...
Maeda T, Inoue S, Ringhofer M, Hirata S, Yamamoto S.Encounters between competitive individuals or groups are common in social animals and can involve costly aggression; thus, animals often employ strategies to minimize direct conflict. However, research on whether and how animals adjust their group spatial structure when they encounter or spatially co-occur with a different group remains limited. We investigated how non-territorial units in feral horse multilevel societies manage spatial encounters with neighbouring units. We observed 25 reproductive units in northern Portugal, using drones, and employed statistical analyses to quantify spatial...
Africa DD, Ikeda K, Maeda T, Inoue S, Ringhofer M, Yamamoto S, Go CK.Collective decision-making and movement coordination are essential behaviours observed in biological systems, from animal herds to human crowds. Horses are a highly social species with a multilevel society. Herding, where the harem is collected to move in a certain direction, is an often-cited example of agonistic behaviour in horses, yet poorly understood in a granular, quantitative sense. We use transfer entropy to measure herding in a harem group of feral Garrano ponies in Serra D'Arga, Portugal. First, we characterize the harem's leader-follower relationships by quantifying the time lag (a...
Environmental contamination with heavy metals, resulting from industrialization, urbanization, and agricultural intensification, poses serious ecological and health risks. Horses, due to their grazing behavior and close association with human environments, serve as reliable sentinel species for assessing environmental pollution. This study aimed to evaluate the bioaccumulation of heavy metals and trace elements in different biological matrices of horses-blood, hair, hooves, and synovial fluid-and to investigate their relationship with hematological biomarkers as indicators of physiological str...
West Nile Virus (WNV) is a mosquito-borne zoonosis with recurrent equine and human cases in Romania. Horses, although dead-end hosts, act as sentinels for local viral circulation. Farm-level risk conditions remain under-characterized. This pilot, exploratory cross-sectional study assessed 42 equine facilities in western Romania (2024). A standardized 10-item checklist was applied and a Composite Environmental Risk Score (CERS) (0-10, unweighted) was computed per facility. Spatial analysis in QGIS included distances to nearby water bodies. No serological or entomological data were collected; th...
Vidal-Cardos R, Fàbrega E, Dalmau A.The sustainability of extensive livestock systems is compromised. It is necessary to enhance our understanding of the activity and grazing behavior of different livestock species (cows, horses, and sheep) sharing the same mountainous areas. Nowadays, the observation and analysis of animal activity is greatly facilitated by remote tracking technology, especially in zones with difficult access. In this article, we proved that commercial geolocation collars can provide meaningful data on animal activity, behavior, and distribution, which can be used to model daily distances, activity patterns, gr...
Bostal F, Scorolli AL, Zalba SM.Social conflicts surrounding invasive alien species can hinder their management, which makes studying the human dimension increasingly important. This approach is particularly relevant in natural reserves, where assessing visitors' perceptions of invasive alien species can help guide the design of more effective outreach and engagement strategies. This study examines visitors' knowledge of feral horses, their perceptions of these animals' value and ecological impact, and their acceptance of different management alternatives in a protected grassland area in the Argentine Pampas. We expect that ...
White SC, Thomas J, Shores C, Zimmerman K.Feral horses () have established large populations in west-central British Columbia (BC), Canada, where they overlap with native ungulates, including a declining woodland caribou () herd. In addition, feral horses co-occur with large carnivore species including wolf () and cougar (). Feral horses may act as a resource subsidy for predators, potentially altering predator-prey dynamics, yet empirical observations of predator interactions with feral horses are scarce in Canada. Between 2019 and 2025, we documented 21 instances of wolf predation or scavenging of feral horses, including one direct ...
Wei L, Wei J, Liu X, Chen W, Wang C, Khan MZ, Zhang Z.Donkeys () remain nutritionally understudied despite their critical roles in agriculture across developing regions, with current feeding practices inappropriately extrapolating horse standards without accounting for species-specific digestive physiology. No comprehensive synthesis has integrated how dietary modifications systematically alter gut microbial communities to drive measurable health outcomes in donkeys, preventing development of evidence-based feeding strategies. This review critically synthesizes current evidence on donkey nutritional requirements and gut microbiota dynamics to est...
Ramírez-Juidias E, Díaz de la Serna-Moreno Á, Delgado-Pertíñez M.Rangeland degradation poses a serious challenge for the sustainable management of free-ranging livestock in Mediterranean wetlands. In National Park, Spain, the endangered horse depends exclusively on natural forage, making it essential to monitor vegetation productivity and grazing suitability under increasing climate variability. This study presents a satellite-based assessment of rangeland carrying capacity to support the adaptive management of this iconic breed. A six-year time series (2015-2020) of 1242 images from Landsat 8 OLI/TIRS and Sentinel-2 (L1C/L2A) was processed using ILWIS an...
Kwak ML, Echigo H, Hoketsu T, Taya Y, Numata H, Shiraki Y, Kelava S, Markowsky G, McInnes D, Hayashi N, Nonaka N, Kawai M, Nakao R.The control of ticks is challenging owing to their ubiquity, complex ecologies, and difficulties relating to costs and non-target impacts of chemical control programs. Nature-based solutions centre around co-opting natural processes and biodiversity to address socio-environmental problems; and in some cases, rewilded species can provide nature-based solutions. In northern Japan, the winter ecology of ticks is poorly studied, though some species are believed to overwinter under the snow. Winter grazing activity of rewilded horses may disturb overwintering ticks, exposing them to sub-zero temper...
Gholmohammadi S, Malekifard F, Yakhchali M.Ticks are important ectoparasites in equids, causing economic losses in animal husbandry in Iran and worldwide. This study was aimed to determine frequency and species diversity of hard ticks in equids in Ardabil province, during the four seasons in 2021. A total of 240 equids (187 horses, 53 donkeys) were randomly selected and examined. Ixodid ticks were collected from body surface of examined animals and identified. Of all examined equids, 32.5% horses, and 4.58% donkeys were infested with a total number of 412 ixodid ticks. Tick indices (tick number per animal) were 4.62. There was signific...
