Wild Horses Spark Debate Among Wyoming Ranchers

The Takeaway

Nothing speaks more powerfully of the American west, perhaps, than the horse.  Horses pulled the wagons that took settlers into new territories. Native Americans had ridden them bareback for centuries before that. And of course, no western film would be complete without one. But that relationship, between modern day ranchers and the wild horses that live and graze on the same land, is under strain. Ranchers say the horses are eating valuable forage and want them removed from public land. The government says there are too many horses and numbers need to be managed. Conservationists and campaigners say the wild horses are being hounded out of existence.
Jonathan Ratner from Takeaway partner The BBC talks to a conservation group that says Wyoming has schizophrenic attitude towards its herds of wild horses.

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