A group of rare native ponies are the latest arrivals to the county in readiness for a new role as conservation grazing animals on a Norfolk heathland.
A herd of 15 Dartmoor Ponies, including youngsters Sherberton, Samson, and Sherberton Steele, has arrived from five different moorland breeders in Devon.
The ponies, both male and female, range in age from one to six years old.
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They will join the existing herd as part of Norfolk Wildlife Trust’s (NWT) conservation grazing programme across its nature reserves, including at East Wretham Heath, near Thetford, and sites managed on behalf of Forestry England under the Brecks Heath Partnership.
Nature conservation manager Jonathan Preston said: “This is another great opportunity for us to protect Norfolk’s biodiversity and help secure the future of a rare native pony breed.
“As well as faring well on the mixed mire and heath sites of Norfolk - areas not dissimilar to Dartmoor - these ponies thrive on the grass heaths of the Norfolk Brecks, where other livestock have tended to lose condition.
“It is important to maintain the ponies’ wildness, because if they become too tame, they can become overly-friendly to the public on our nature reserves rather than carry out important conservation grazing.
“Just be sure to keep your distance if you spot any wild ponies when you're out and about, as they are true free spirits.”
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The four-legged recruits will play an important part in improving, restoring and managing The Brecks for wildlife which is a unique landscape of dry acidic grassland, shifting sands and post-glacial ponds.
This benefits a range of vulnerable Norfolk wildlife species including grayling butterflies, Breckland speedwell, stone curlew and nightjar.
The new additions increase NWT’s Dartmoor pony herd to 134.
The Dartmoor pony is officially recognised as a rare native breed.
These moor–bred, hardy, conservation grazing ponies are suitable for thriving on coarse vegetation and provide a natural way to help manage vital wildlife habitat.
As selective grazers, the ponies can create a rich variety of different heights and species of vegetation, preventing delicate habitats from becoming dominated and overgrown, and they reach those spots a mower is unable to.
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