October 2012

After the discovery of Hispaniola in 1492, the Spaniards introduced European domestic animals to this island. Very quickly, animals regained their freedom  in a climate and an environment favorable to their reproduction.

The wild horses that regularly cross the park to graze on the grass of a clearing near Lake Quisqueya are the direct descendants of these herds that populated the island. Much less numerous, but just as wild, it is difficult to approach them.

Yet don't think they are so peaceful. The park had a horse trained for horse riding which, at night, was tied up in an open enclosure. He was killed with hoofs, probably by a stallion from a herd fearing competition.

The group has shrunk. Only four horses remain out of the seven seen last year.

Have the male foals become adults (after 3 years) and hunted by the stallion of the group according to herd custom? Did they get sick, captured or shot?

Impossible to know: the wild horse population is not studied in Haiti.