North American wild horses will not be considered a threatened or endangered species. The United States Fish and Wildlife Service denied the proposal Wednesday.
Two conservationist groups filed a petition last year seeking endangered species protection for more than 40,000 feral horses throughout 10 western United States. Friends of Animals and The Cloud Foundation argued these wild horses are physiologically and behaviorally different than domesticated horses.
These groups and others have been fighting the federal government’s methods of managing wild horse populations.
The Fish and Wildlife Service found the petition didn’t present enough information to support the wild horses as a distinct population segment.