Back to photostream

Shakleford Island Horses

The past weekend I visited Shakleford Island in the Outer Banks of N.C. Humans are not allowed to interfere in the survival of these horses, as they are a wild population. The herd is descended from Spanish horses that swam to shore from ship wrecks. They have no natural predators on the island. The island is about 8.5 miles long and a mile wide at its thickest point. Due to the Islands size it supports the ecological principle that the larger the island is the more niches are created, and more species are able to live on it. The disturbance hypothesis states that the populations on small islands are more likely to go extinct. To protect the heard on Shakleford it is important that no other horses come to the area t potentially introducing disease.

 

www.outerbanks.com/shackleford-banks.html

511 views
1 fave
3 comments
Uploaded on May 21, 2018
Taken on May 19, 2018