Introduction
The Minister of Conservation issued the Kaimanawa Wild Horses Plan in May 1996. The plan is based on keeping some areas free of horses and managing their numbers in remaining areas. It recommends a strategy that includes a review of location options for the horses after three years of monitoring the outcomes for two alternative options (management in situ and management elsewhere).
In accordance with the plan, the herd was reduced significantly in 1997 with a remnant herd of around 500 horses retained in the southern section of the Waiouru Military Training Area. Since 1997, routine musters have been undertaken to contain the herd within the chosen boundaries and remove the equivalent of the annual population increase. This management has become the, generally accepted, 'status quo'.
However, as only one location option (management in situ) was able to be implemented, the review and subsequent choice of location for future management, envisaged by the plan, has not been able to be undertaken. Similarly, sufficient monitoring data is not yet available to judge the sustainability of the herd retained in the Waiouru Military Training Area.
The Kaimanawa Wild Horse Advisory Group recommended that a revised plan be prepared to clarify the goals and objectives of the existing management 'status quo'. This working plan has therefore been prepared to reconfirm the goals and objectives of the Kaimanawa Wild Horses Plan and to guide their implementation for the next five years.