Concerns over welfare of Exmoor ponies in Danish rewilding project

Flagship scheme dismisses claims herd is left to go hungry, saying animals have enough food to survive

Exmoor ponies have become hot property for rewilding projects across Europe, which use them as selective grazers to tend meadows and promote biodiversity. The scientists and conservationists behind the trials prefer to use animals as similar as possible to those which roamed the land before humans arrived.

However, pony groups in Britain claim that in one project in Denmark the animals are being left alone in fenced fields without sufficient grazing in the winter. They also claim there has been some evidence of ponies left with untreated wounds.