Relationships are Complicated: Predator Interactions with Wild Horses
Webinar recorded Nov. 18, 2025
This Return to Freedom Wild Horse Conservation webinar was led by Dr. David Stoner, Assistant Professor of Wildlife Extension and Lecturer in the Department of Wildland Resources at Utah State University.
Dr. Stoner conducts applied ecological research on large mammals at landscape scales; in other words, big animals across big geographic areas. He is particularly interested in large carnivores and their effects on prey species’ populations and distribution.
Is predation a solution for management of wild horses or burros? What level of predation would be necessary to hold horse populations within the carrying capacities of their habitats? The dynamics of predator-prey interactions are fascinatingly complex, and not without their own limitations.
Dr. Stoner discussed some of these interactions, and talked to us about what’s being studied across the West when it comes to mountain lion, wolf, and wild horse relationships.
This webinar is part of Return to Freedom’s Informed Advocacy Webinar Series:
Effective advocacy requires deep knowledge of systems that may seem frustrating, and it also requires incredible patience. Our “Informed Advocacy” series will cover information required to actually make good change. We can be passionate and forceful when it comes to advocating for these remarkable animals, but without calm demeanors, divergent partners, and airtight strategies, we will go nowhere.