Is it true that wild horse herds double in size every five years and have no natural predators?
In its 1982 study, the National Academy of Sciences found “annual rates of increase of 10% or less” in wild horse populations, a far cry from the 20% increase relied upon by the BLM to justify its removal program. Wild horses do have predators, in the form of mountain lions and bears. In 2004 for instance, only 1 out of 28 foals survived in Montana’s Pryor Mountain area. Such low survival rate was mostly due to mountain lion predation.
