Wild horses spotted near Wood Buffalo National Park

When it comes to wildlife, Wood Buffalo National Park is best known for, well, wood buffalo, but two small groups of wild horses have recently been spotted roaming near the park.

Stuart Macmillan, Wood Buffalo's manager of Resource Conservation, said two groups of about five horses have been spotted just outside of the park, which straddles the N.W.T./Alberta border. He said they look to be in good health, as seen in photographs taken during bison surveys.

"There's white ones, some darker ones, and look to be some palominos in there," he said.

"They look to be fine and healthy and doing well."

Macmillan said it's not the first time wandering horses have sought refuge in the remote areas in and around Canada's largest national park. Staff have occasionally seen wild horses on their surveys, both inside and outside of the park, alone and in groups.

Horses were spotted in the early 2000s during a general ungulate survey, and again 10 years later during summer anthrax surveillance flights. He said there were also reports of horses in the vicinity of the park on the north side, in the Slave River lowlands near Fort Smith, in the 1980s and 1990s.

"They seem to have been around for a while, [though] they may be different horses at different times, from different sources," Macmillan said.

"I think what's happening is that from time to time horses get away from where they're kept and then they roam around and find their way in and out of the park, but not in large numbers."

He said they're not concerned about any ecological impact on the park from the small groups and that it's unlikely they'll grow into a larger herd.