Hello and Happy Wednesday! 

We have had some people on our social media page touting how safe and necessary the tracking collars that were put on the 15 mares during the October 2024 helicopter roundup are.  We decided to make a blanket statement based on FACTS we found as we have done our own research on this.

Some of the FACTS we have found include:

1. The safety “remote release” feature only works 40-50% of the time
2. There are reports of chafing, hair loss, sores and swelling on animals wearing these collars
3. Animals wearing these collars have been reported to lose weight
4. We have seen in the TRNP horses the mares wearing the collars are not as social as they once were – they tend to stay away from other band members. 

While we can see a benefit if there was true unbiased research being done in larger HMA’s, however, in a fenced park that is 49,000 acres, there is no to collar these horses in order to track their movements. All of the horses can be seen from different areas in the park.  There are also several followers in the park on a regular basis that would be more than happy to give the park information on the movement of the horses. 

The feedback from these collars that the park has been sharing shows that the bands generally stay in their own areas.  As the seasons change, they move to other areas that most followers would tell you is normal for them at those times of the year. 

One scientific paper found these concerns:

Biological and behavioral impacts from tracking gear

Most of the negative consequences from ELF-EMF/RFR have been documented in laboratory animals, domestic pets, and humans (3–7). Generally, the consequences and potential negative radiation impacts from using radio telemetry and radio tracking gear on/in animals in the wild are mostly undocumented but of growing concern (3, 48). Because of equipment availability, potential impacts to wildlife/pets/domestic animals are frequently dismissed or ignored in favor of potential human knowledge-to-be-gained, and field researchers may be quick to continue using tracking gear without understanding the full potential consequences of its use on/in birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, fish, or other targeted wildlife subjects. Contained within that professional bias, the risk/benefit assumption favoring assumed safety may be skewed against the fact that such exposures have been found to be a broad cellular stressor leading to many adverse effects (49), including in nonhuman species.

Below are some observed impacts from the use of tracking gear that include, but are by no means limited to:

• Benign growths/tumors resulted from external radio collar use (e.g., in American Kestrels [Falco sparverius]) (50).

• Tissue irritation, infection, and death from surgically implanted transmitters were seen in snakes (51) and otariids (52), among others. Where thermometry cannot be used, surgically implanted data loggers, and skin-attached PIT tags have resulted in irritation and infections in birds and mammals (23).

• Sarcomas and other malignant cancers have been seen in research animals and domestic pets (53–61) from implanted RFID chips, with some cases attributed to the chip casing materials but which may also be related to EMF functioning as an initiator and/or cofactor (62).

• Severe metabolic changes in animals exposed to 915 MHz RFID chips have been seen (63).

• Skin and internal irritations, sensitivity, and collar injuries are common—e.g., from tracking collars and/or skin-implanted gear that is too tight, not expandable, or insufficiently expandable as the animal grows—and may chafe and/or choke the animal as it attempts to remove the collar or other gear (19, 64). This was documented by one of the authors of this paper, who noted a study bear that had apparently strangled itself in its winter den, ostensibly attempting to remove the collar. He also noted neck chafing in several bears whose collars were too tight as the bears grew (12). At the time, breakaway neoprene collars were unavailable, except for expandable models with latex bands used on juveniles.

• Behavioral changes in tagged individuals (19, 64), as well as reduced breeding and/or survivorship (64, 65) have been observed.

• Increased vulnerabilities to predators (19, 66, 67) due to a weakened host and other species’ ability to perceive transmitted signals on/in tagged animals, cluing predators to their presence.

• Concerns continue over the duration of RFR transmitter attachment and migratory disruption in avian research subjects and different frequencies used (48, 68, 69).

• Micro-current exposures from batteries, antennas, computers, RFID chips, PIT tags, GPS collars transmitting to satellites, and other sources of RFR create additional and unmonitored independent exposures to wildlife and their habitats (3, 4).

• Reviews of negative effects from transmitting gear that can lead to data biases, as well as multiple confounding results, have been published. Effects included decreased animal productivity, changes in behavioral and movement patterns, increased energy expenditure, biased sex ratios, and reduced survival (48). However, EMF, thus far, has been largely excluded as a confounder (3, 4, 48) even when adverse effects have been found to be significantly associated with the duration of attachment of RFR transmitter devices to wildlife (48, 69).

You can read this article in its entirety here: https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/veterinary-science/articles/10.3389/fvets.2024.1283709/full

More than anything, these collars are yet just one more experiment on the Theodore Roosevelt National Park wild horses and as wild horse advocates, we want ALL of the experimentation on these horses to STOP!  IF the park is truly interested in doing their own research on the movement of the horses, there are less invasive ways for them to gather this information. 

We also wondering if the behavioral effects of these collars also being studied on this group of horses? 

Please make sure you take a moment to sign our petition.  We have a meeting THIS FRIDAY with someone who we believe can get the collars removed.  If you have already signed, THANK YOU!  Please ask your friends and family to also sign: https://secure.everyaction.com/x-5WrjPo20Cb4LGbj5PD-A2

Thank you for your support and have a great day!

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