The Danube Delta horses are a population of

feral horse A feral horse is a free-roaming horse of domesticated stock. As such, a feral horse is not a wild animal in the sense of an animal without domesticated ancestors. However, some populations of feral horses are managed as wildlife, and thes ...

s in Romania. They live in and around

Letea Forest Letea Forest is the oldest natural reservation in Romania. It was established in 1938, when the Romanian Council of Ministers passed Decision No. 645 declaring the forest a nature reserve. It is located between the Sulina branch, Sulina and Chilia ...

in the

Danube Delta The Danube Delta (, ; , ) is the second largest river delta in Europe, after the Volga Delta, and is the best preserved on the continent. Occurring where the Danube, Danube River empties into the Black Sea, most of the Danube Delta lies in Romania ...

, between the Sulina and Chilia branches of the

Danube The Danube ( ; see also #Names and etymology, other names) is the List of rivers of Europe#Longest rivers, second-longest river in Europe, after the Volga in Russia. It flows through Central and Southeastern Europe, from the Black Forest sou ...

. About 4000 feral horses live in the Danube Delta, 2000 of them in the Letea nature reserve*, where on one hand, they are among the last remaining "wild" (feral) horses living at large on the European continent,Project Proposed: Biodiversity Preservation in the Danube Delta - Letea Natural Reserve by saving the last wild horses in Europe and some protected vegetable species as well as developing methods to generate alternative incomes for inhabitants in the area
Arca lui Noe. Accessed October 2015. but are also deemed to be a threat to the flora of the forest,
(in Romanian), '' Gândul'', February 25, 2009 including some plants on the

IUCN Red List of Threatened Species The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is an inventory of the global conservation status and extinction risk of biological spe ...

. Although there have been feral horses in the region for hundreds of years, their numbers greatly increased after the collective farms were closed down in 1990 and the horses belonging to them were freed."Caii sălbăticiţi distrug puieţii din Pădurea Letea"
(in Romanian), ''

Adevărul (; meaning "The Truth", formerly spelled ''Adevĕrul'') is a Romanian daily newspaper, based in Bucharest. Founded in Iași, in 1871, and reestablished in 1888, in Bucharest, it was the main left-wing press venue to be published during the Kingd ...

'', October 12, 2007 The Letea population is not regulated and there are concerns that

overgrazing Overgrazing occurs when plants are exposed to intensive grazing for extended periods of time, or without sufficient recovery periods. It can be caused by either livestock in poorly managed agricultural applications, game reserves, or nature ...

is a looming problem. The horses on Letea Island are

black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...

bay A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a ''gulf'', ''sea'', ''sound'', or ''bight''. A ''cove'' is a small, ci ...

, without white spots. They stand between and are strongly built. They are different from the smaller horses of Sfântu Gheorghe, which is nearby. They are not of a riding horse build, but are built like the working horses of Hungary. In 2002, some of these horses were captured and transported to

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

for slaughter. Some organizations objected to removal, holding that the horses had value in being adapted to the location and possessing natural social behavior. Another push for removal and slaughter began in 2009, but horses cannot be currently removed from the area because a number of animals carry equine infectious anemia. Therefore, according to Romanian regulation, they are not allowed to be taken out of the quarantine area. Currently, there is an ongoing project, in collaboration with the

World Wide Fund for Nature The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) is a Swiss-based international non-governmental organization founded in 1961 that works in the field of wilderness preservation and the reduction of human impact on the environment. It was formerly named th ...

, seeking to find a way to remove these horses.Dezastru ecologic: În Delta Dunării caii sălbatici distrug Letea
(in Romanian), '' Jurnalul Naţional'', January 15, 2009 While some organizations object to total removal and advocate for some animals to remain, others are attempting to find a different preserve for the horses to live.

References

External links

Wild Horses in Danube Delta - PhotosSaving Wild Horses of Danube Delta - VideoWild Horses in Danube Delta - Video
{{DEFAULTSORT:Danube Delta Horse Danube Delta Feral horses Horse breeds Mammals of Europe