Conservationists and farming communities on Exmoor are watching with alarm as Natural England's new grazing contracts threaten to remove up to 90% of Dartmoor's semi-wild hill ponies, with serious concerns that similar proposals could soon be imposed on Exmoor, home to one of Britain's most endangered native breeds.
The contracts, which could come into force as early as late 2026, would for the first time count Dartmoor's hill ponies within overall livestock grazing quotas, forcing commoners to remove them in favour of cattle and sheep. Campaigners warn the move is ecologically illiterate, the ponies are among the most effective grazers of invasive Molinia grass, which is choking out native species across moorland habitats.
The warning is especially acute for Exmoor. The Exmoor pony is listed on the Rare Breed Survival Trust's Category 2 Endangered List, and the indigenous core population living on Exmoor is considered critically endangered. With around 500 ponies living on the moor and fewer than 4,000 worldwide, the breed is one of the most genetically vulnerable native horse breeds in existence. Following a severe genetic bottleneck after the Second World War, the current Exmoor pony population is descended from fewer than fifty foundation animals. Any further reduction in free-living moorland herds risks pushing the breed beyond the point of genetic recovery.
James Wright, a farmer on Exmoor and Conservative campaigner, said: "What Natural England is doing on Dartmoor today, they could be doing on Exmoor tomorrow. These ponies are not an inconvenience, they are part of the ecological fabric of this landscape, and they have been here far longer than the London bureaucrats now deciding their fate. If we allow this to happen on Dartmoor without challenge, we are handing Natural England a template for every moor in England."
A petition started by campaigner Tara Leader has already gathered nearly 15,000 signatures, and supporters plan to deliver it to Downing Street on 2nd September, accompanied by six Dartmoor hill ponies. Supporters are urging the DEFRA Secretary of State and local MPs to call for an immediate pause and independent ecological review of the contracts before they come into force.
The petition can be found here https://c.org/PMjHDtSX5V
