ASSATEAGUE — Fittingly during National Park Week, the newest addition to the wild horse population on Assateague was birthed last Saturday, the first of which will likely be a veritable baby boom on the barrier island this spring.
The new foal, with its rather sterile early moniker N2BHS-O, was birthed last Saturday on the barrier island by Carol’s Girl, also known as N2BHS. In the 1970s, the National Park Service began assigning alpha-numeric names to the horses on the island in order to track their lineage and ancestry as well as identify to which sub-herd they belong and the areas on the island they tend to frequent.
The wobbly young horse has been seen following her dam around in the days since. Because Carol’s Girl was often seen with Yankee 11 and-a-half months ago, which is the gestation period for foals, Assateague Island National Seashore officials are almost certain the foal’s sire is Yankee.
Yankee’s band tends to hang around the state park area, so the new foal and her dam Carol’s Girl were seen frequently by the public this week in the days following the birth, prompting AINS officials to issue a reminder about the importance of giving the young family plenty of space.
“If you venture out to the seashore to see the Maryland herd’s newest addition, please resist the temptation to get close to the foal,” a statement from AINS reads. “Please respect the fact that giving birth and being born are stressful events not just for the two horses directly involved, but the entire band. There is a new member to adjust to, so the entire band is on edge. For your safety, always stay at least a bus length away from the horses and never attempt to touch them.”
Early on, there was considerable speculation about the gender of the new foal with even AINS officials calling it a filly. However, later in the week the Assateague Island National Seashore confirmed the herd’s newest addition was a colt.
The new foal is the first of what will likely be three new births in the Maryland herd this spring. While it certainly isn’t the most glamorous aspect of managing the famed wild horses on Assateague, a biological technician each year spends much of November conducting pregnancy tests of sorts on many of the mares on the barrier island in an attempt to predict how many, if any, new foals will join the herd in the coming year. The results of those tests were released earlier this year and Assateague officials announced three of the mares on the island, including Carol’s Girl, JoJo and Charmed were all expecting.
JoJo was the mother of the only foal born in the Maryland herd last year. The only 2015 foal was named Jasper in December after a record-breaking naming rights contest hosted by the Assateague Island Alliance (AIA), the friends group of the National Seashore that provides support for the island’s famed wild horses. According to AIA officials this week, JoJo is in the window of the 11-and-a-half month gestation period and the birth of her foal could come as soon as the first week of May.
At any rate, with Carol’s Girl giving birth last weekend and JoJo and Charmed soon likely to follow suit, this spring will be a downright baby boom on the barrier island. Just one foal, Jasper, was born last year, and the recent trend has been one or two, or even zero new additions. With the birth of the new foal last weekend, the size of the herd on the Maryland side now stands at 89, which is well within the ideal range of 80 to 100.
In the interest of maintaining a healthy population size, the National Park Service several years ago began a contraceptive program for the mares in the herd. Selected mares are injected with a non-invasive contraceptive called PZP in an effort to maintain the size of the herd in its manageable threshold. However, some, including Carol’s Girl, for example, have proven to be resistant to the contraceptive.
Assateague’s contraceptive program has become the model for wild horse and other animal management programs around the country. As recently as just a few years ago, the size of the wild horse population on Assateague had swelled to around 140, or well north of the target range. However, with recent losses to old age, illness or other natural and man-made causes, NPS Resource Management has moved from the reduction phase to an adaptive management phase. From this point on, the results of the year-end pregnancy testing along with the estimated population will determine which, if any, mares will be darted with the contraceptive program.
If you venture out to the seashore to see the Maryland herd’s newest addition, please resist the temptation to get close to the foal. Please respect the fact that giving birth and being born are stressful events not just for the two horses directly involved, but the entire band. There is a new member to adjust to, so the entire band is on edge. For your safety, always stay at least a bus length away from any horses and never attempt to touch them.If you venture out to the seashore to see the Maryland herd’s newest addition, please resist the temptation to get close to the foal. Please respect the fact that giving birth and being born are stressful events not just for the two horses directly involved, but the entire band. There is a new member to adjust to, so the entire band is on edge. For your safety, always stay at least a bus length away from any horses and never attempt to touch them.If you venture out to the seashore to see the Maryland herd’s newest addition, please resist the temptation to get close to the foal. Please respect the fact that giving birth and being born are stressful events not just for the two horses directly involved, but the entire band. There is a new member to adjust to, so the entire band is on edge. For your safety, always stay at least a bus length away from any horses and never attempt to touch them.
