Konik horses moved at Stodmarsh

Wildwood Press Release 2/12/16

Konik horse wrangling

The more intrepid members of our Wildwood team recently spent a long and exhausting day at Stodmarsh moving four of our female Konik horses into a new winter friendly compartment of the nature reserve.

Our Konik horses were introduced at Stodmarsh to help naturally manage the wetland through their grazing habits, which provides a more biodiverse habitat. The area in which they were in was soggy, full of reed beds and, although they are extremely hardy creatures, we decided to move them to a drier area with more grazing availabilty to see out the winter months. The task of moving these lovely yet stubborn animals was not made easier by the 2km route through an undulating landscape. The horses had to be kept moving so they didn't stop to eat and get lost in the wetland. They also needed to be moved as a herd, but kept at a certain speed so that our frail human legs could keep up. Not an easy task, but the move was a major success! We'll be keeping an eye on them over the winter with regular site visits, we may even take them some special treats at Christmas!

Find out more about Konik horses

Find out more about Stodmarsh

CONTACT Wildwood Trust: +44(0)1227 712 111 dan.farrow@wildwoodtrust.org veronica@wildwoodtrust.org Wildwood Trust, Herne Common, Herne Bay, nr Canterbury, Kent CT6 7LQ Registered Charity No 1093702     EDITORS NOTES Wildwood Trust opened in 1999 as a centre of excellence for the conservation of British wildlife, and was established as a registered charity in 2002. It recently opened a second site at Escot Park in Devon. Wildwood is Kent’s best British wildlife park. Home to over 200 native animals, past and present and set in 40 acres of beautiful ancient woodland, see wolves, bison, deer, owls, foxes, red squirrels, wild boar, lynx, wild horses, badgers and beavers plus many more. As one of the leading British animal conservation charities in the UK Wildwood Trust is dedicated to saving Britain’s most threatened wildlife. The Wildwood Trust has taken part in many ground-breaking conservation programmes, some of which include habitat preservation; conservation grazing on Kent’s nature reserves using wild ponies; bringing the extinct European beaver back to Britain and the reintroduction of the hazel dormouse and red squirrel to areas where they have been made extinct.

Wildwood Trust Herne Common Herne Bay Kent CT6 7LQ Registered Charity No: 1093702 01227 712 111 info@wildwoodtrust.org