Feral ponies pictured by drones

DRONE footage has captured a huge population of vulnerable wild ponies.

- JONATHON HILL

Wild ponies on Gelligaer and Merthyr Common

(WILD HORSE WELFARE)

The large number of feral ponies on Gelligaer and Merthyr Common, on the boundary of Caerphilly borough and Merthyr Tydfil, has been caused by the animals being abandoned there followed by unchecked breeding.

Charities have been working to decrease the population of wild ponies at the rural landscape due to the impact the high numbers are having on the land, coupled with extremely challenging living conditions for the animals.

Earlier this year Wild Horse Welfare, in partnership with the RSPCA, Redwings Horse Sanctuary and the Gelligaer and Merthyr Commoners Association, worked to move ponies from the commonland elsewhere. In the past two years more than 100 ponies have been removed because the lack of resources on the common land as well as the high population of ponies make for an unsustainable situation.