Exmoor Ponies have evolved over thousands of years

The Exmoor National Park Authority is threatening to remove moorland ponies - unless the public stops feeding them.

Authority rangers say they will have no alternative but to take the ponies off the moor, if the food handouts do not stop. They have stressed the move is designed to help the animals.

The ponies have traditionally been completely independent

Exmoor Ponies have evolved over thusands of years to live on open moorland with minimum intervention from man.

The continued purity of the breed depends on this way of life continuing.

But the authority says the ponies could become increasingly dependent on our handouts, and potentially aggressive when looking for food.

Exmoor officers are also worried that if the feeding continues, the ponies will walk across more roads in search of generous day trippers - putting themselves and the public at risk.

It is feared that the problem - if it leads to the removal of the ponies - could effect the authority's conservation programme, as the grazing of the ponies helps to keep the moorland under control.

However, authority bosses are hoping the public will heed the warning, and stop feeding the ponies.

Soon to be removed from Exmoor..?

Park ranger, Alison Kent, said: "People think they are being kind by feeding the ponies, but what will happen is that they will become more and more demanding, and eventually aggressive towards people when looking for food.

"The way that Exmoor Ponies graze - by just nibbling off small amounts of scrub at a time - is an important part of conservation management, and they should not be fed man-made foods which upsets this natural balance."

She added: "By feeding the ponies, people are encouraging them to walk across the roads and into the car parks, and we will soon be having the sort of accidents that they have in the New Forest, where up to 150 ponies are hit by vehicles every year.

"By encouraging the ponies to come closer by feeding them, people are putting both the ponies and themselves in potential danger," she warned.

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