The RSPB headquarters has welcomed six new team members - Dartmoor ponies! And this is far from the first time the RSPB has called on larger grazing animals for their help in restoring spaces for conservation. The British Isles has lost most of its large wild herbivores, apart from deer, so we sometimes recruit them in to help restore habitats at RSPB reserves. Here we look at some ways they can help transform landscapes for everything from bugs to birds, and at how these new Dartmoor ponies will help conservation at the heart of the RSPB.
Dartmoor ponies keeping heathland in check at RSPB headquarters
On 5 April six Dartmoor ponies, named Kevin, Podkin, Pook, Barramoor Tom, Black Magic, and Roger, travelled all the way from their home in Dartmoor to RSPB headquarters, The Lodge nature reserve in Bedfordshire. Their job will be to help make the space an even more attractive home for everything from bugs to birds.
Dartmoor ponies are an endangered native breed of pony that are prized for their hardiness, even temperament, and ability to eat plants that other ponies and horses might balk at. This ability to nip, nibble, and stamp thick gorse and brambles brings in light and opens whole new pathways for them to poo in. This creates space for plants to grow, and the poo provides food for insects and bugs which themselves are tasty morsels for reptiles and birds. The dung invertebrates also play a vital role in returning nutrients back into the soil – it’s a whole circle of life revolving around pony poo.
Last year Dartmoor Pony Heritage Trust wrote an article for CJS, read it here 'The Dartmoor Pony - Combining Conservation and Heritage'
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Posted On: 22/04/2021