Month-old wild horse wandering alone sets off search for her family on NC Outer Banks
Outer Banks wild horses are notoriously protective of their young, so it set off alarms when a foal was found wandering alone on North Carolina’s barrier islands.
The discovery was made Wednesday, July 3, on Corolla and involved a month-old filly named Esther, the Corolla Wild Horse Fund reported in a Facebook post.
“Esther was found alone with her parents nowhere in sight,” the fund said. “We immediately jumped into action and reached out to residents in the area to help us keep an eye on Esther while our staff and other helpers went to look for her mother.”
It is not unheard of for mares to reject foals in cases where their offspring are sickly and not likely to survive. One such case led to a foal named Elsa being euthanized in June after her mother rejected her with kicking.
However, that didn’t stop the fund staff from searching for Esther’s extended family, in hopes of a reunion.
They were found about an hour later, a quarter of a mile away and on the other side of a canal, officials said.
“Under the direction of our herd managers and vet, Esther was safely captured and taken back to her mother,” the fund reported.
“She immediately began to nurse and seems no worse for wear. But the situation could have had a very different ending if it were not for everyone who jumped in to help.”
Video of the reunion was shared on Facebook.
It remains unclear how Esther ended up alone, but it did not appear to be an intentional separation.
“It just happens sometimes,” the fund wrote. “Most likely ... the foal was sleeping and parents moved on without realizing she wasn’t with them, and then mom couldn’t hear her calling for them.”
Esther was deemed in perfect health at the time of her birth, and her mother is “very experienced” at raising foals, the fund reported in June. A herd of just over 100 wild horses lives around Corolla, which is at the northern end of the Outer Banks.
This story was originally published July 4, 2024 at 2:23 PM with the headline "Month-old wild horse wandering alone sets off search for her family on NC Outer Banks."