when the wild horses come down to the locals

In this valley of Liguria (Italy), they have become the nightmare of the villagers. Wild horses descending more and more often from the mountains, in gardens and on the roads, obstructing traffic, when they are not causing an accident. In 2022, one resident even died. A situation that has become impossible for some villagers. In her car, Patrizia Ferreti is always on her guard. She is part of a collective of angry residents.

An extremely rare situation in Europe

She is tired of seeing horses everywhere in her village of Borzonasca (Italy). “They do a lot of damage, especially when there are vegetable gardens”, she says. Abandoned 30 years ago by a farmer, most of them live at high altitude, in a natural park. Once a month, two naturalists come to observe them. This situation is extremely rare in Europe, where most horses have been domesticated by humans. In nature, their behavior is totally different. Conservationists would like to build an enclosure to contain the animals, while allowing them to live in the wild.