The Danube Delta horses are a population of feral horses in Romania. They live in and around Letea Forest in the Danube Delta, between the Sulina and Chilia branches of the Danube. About 4000 feral horses live in the Danube Delta,[1] 2000 of them in the Letea nature reserve*, where on one hand, they are among the last remaining "wild" (feral) horses living at large on the European continent,[2] but are also deemed to be a threat to the flora of the forest,[3] including some plants on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.[4]
Although there have been feral horses in the region for hundreds of years,[3] their numbers greatly increased after the collective farms were closed down in 1990 and the horses belonging to them were freed.[5] The Letea population is not regulated and there are concerns that overgrazing is a looming problem.[6]
The horses on Letea Island are black or bay, without white spots. They stand between 1.45 and 1.50 m (14.1 and 14.3 hands) and are strongly built. They are different from the smaller horses of Sfântu Gheorghe, which is nearby. They are not of a riding horse build, but are built like the working horses of Hungary.[6]
In 2002, some of these horses were captured and transported to Italy for slaughter.[3] Some organizations objected to removal, holding that the horses had value in being adapted to the location and possessing natural social behavior.[6] Another push for removal and slaughter began in 2009,[3] but horses cannot be currently removed from the area because a number of animals carry equine infectious anemia. Therefore, according to Romanian regulation, they are not allowed to be taken out of the quarantine area. Currently, there is an ongoing project, in collaboration with the World Wide Fund for Nature, seeking to find a way to remove these horses.[4] While some organizations object to total removal and advocate for some animals to remain,[6] others are attempting to find a different preserve for the horses to live.[2]
^Cite error: The named reference guard was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ abProject Proposed: Biodiversity Preservation in the Danube Delta - Letea Natural Reserve by saving the last wild horses in Europe and some protected vegetable species as well as developing methods to generate alternative incomes for inhabitants in the area. Arca lui Noe. Accessed October 2015.
^ abcd"Mustangul de România" Archived 2018-07-08 at the Wayback Machine (in Romanian), Gândul, February 25, 2009
^ abDezastru ecologic: În Delta Dunării caii sălbatici distrug Letea Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine (in Romanian), Jurnalul Naţional, January 15, 2009
^"Caii sălbăticiţi distrug puieţii din Pădurea Letea" Archived 2009-03-17 at the Wayback Machine (in Romanian), Adevărul, October 12, 2007
^ abcd""Natural and cultural grazing in the Danube Delta." Consultancy Herds and Homelands" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2021-11-22. Retrieved 2009-03-04.
and 25 Related for: Danube Delta horse information
reserve. It is located between the Sulina and Chilia branches of Danube in the DanubeDelta. It covers an area of approximately 2,825 ha or 6,980 acres or...
Yılkı horse in the Kızılırmak Delta and other places in Turkey Europe DanubeDeltaHorse, in and around Letea Forest, Romania Garrano, a feral horse native...
Danish Warmblood DanubeDeltahorse Dareshuri Datong horse Dole Gudbrandsdal, also called Dole, or Dølahest Don, see Russian Don Dongola horse Draft Trotter...
of the DanubeDeltahorse from the Letea Forest in the DanubeDelta. The Romanian government is considering the protection of the feral horses and transforming...
to the DanubeDeltahorses, a population of feral horses that has lived for hundreds of years in and around Letea Forest in the DanubeDelta and is possibly...
their natural state by the wild horses and wild cattle still present. Working with partners, the Rewilding DanubeDelta team is working to significantly...
the Dnieper River, contained 12–52% horse bones. When Suvorovo graves appeared in the Danubedelta grasslands, horse-head maces also appeared in some of...
to the north of the Danube in modern Romania, and established themselves in the DanubeDelta. In the 670s they crossed the Danube into Scythia Minor,...
of the European Union Vistula delta near Elbląg and Nowy Dwór Gdański Warta delta near Kostrzyn nad Odrą DanubeDelta Parts of Pulau Tekong The Ankaran/Ancarano...
p. 94. Victor Spinei, "Romanians and the Turkic Nomads North of the DanubeDelta from the Tenth to the Mid-Thirteenth Century", ISBN 9789047428800 / Brill...
director from 1970 to 1989 for Hawker Siddeley Dynamics; the drop of the Blue Danube by No. 49 Squadron RAF in October 1956 in Operation Buffalo at Maralinga;...
The Iazyges used horse-tails in their religious rituals. When the Iazyges migrated to the plain between the Tisza and the Danube, their economy suffered...
west and Silistra in the east, near the mouth of the Danube. The Ottoman move up the River Danube was also of concern to the Austrians, who moved forces...
thought to have played a role in WNV transmission in the Danubedelta, Caspian and Azov sea deltas, and the Volga region in Russia. It has also been implicated...
Obertyn (1531). Prince Petru also expanded his rule southwards to the DanubeDelta. His brother Roman I conquered the Hungarian-ruled Cetatea Albă in 1392...
Spinei, Victor (2009). The Romanians and the Turkic Nomads North of the DanubeDelta from the Tenth to the Mid-Thirteenth century. Koninklijke Brill NV....
Spinei, Victor (2009). The Romanians and the Turkic Nomads North of the DanubeDelta from the Tenth to the Mid-Thirteenth century. Koninklijke Brill NV....
more than 2,000 pedigree horses living there. The Scythians appear to have lost some territories on both sides of the Danube due to Ateas's defeat and...
Spinei, Victor (2009). The Romanians and the Turkic Nomads North of the DanubeDelta from the Tenth to the Mid-Thirteenth Century. Leiden: Brill. ISBN 978-9004175365...
of the Danube River in southeastern Romania. At its peak, the culture expanded to include settlements in the Bărăgan Plain and the DanubeDelta in Romania...
is considered northern Dobruja, secured to the West and North by Danube and its Delta, and bounded to the East by the Black Sea. They re-settled in North-Eastern...
in Tulcea County, in Northern Dobruja, Romania, on the right bank of the Danube, 35 km north-west of Tulcea. According to the 2021 census, it has a population...
Spinei, Victor (2009). The Romanians and the Turkic Nomads North of the DanubeDelta from the Tenth to the Mid-thirteenth Century. Leiden; Boston: Brill Publishers...
Global Information