The importance of animal welfare when re-wilding herbivores for biodiversity re-establishment

The emotional and cognitive welfare of ponies used as tools for increasing biodiversity has not been carefully considered. A brief history of different approaches is given. Establishing the appropriate lifetime experiences is crucial, particularly appropriate experience with humans. This is a description of how a small group of young unhandled wild Exmoor ponies could be captured, transported, and released to live in a nature reserve in the French Prealps without distress or trauma. The necessary familiarization with humans was achieved by cooperative handling and teaching with an equine tutor. These young wild ponies handled by trained personnel, using no violent negative reinforcement, needed a maximum time of 5 h 30 min/individual before allowing themselves to be (i) caught (ii) and handled anywhere on their body, (iii) allowing their four feet to be lifted and held, and allowing themselves (iv) to be led, (v) loaded, (vi) transported, and (vii) released without showing behavioral or physiological distress. Their behavior, heart rates, and body condition were monitored. No chemical treatments were used. Despite the dramatic environmental and climate differences, the ponies needed no human intervention, remained in good condition, and had no serious health problems for 20 months after re-wilding. This small group had little obvious effect on the overall biodiversity, but there was a spread of wild orchids where they grazed heavily. Wild indigenous orchids might be an indicator of biodiversity in some locations as they are not grazed by most large herbivores.