A row is growing over the potential cull of Dartmoor's hill ponies as campaigners warn Natural England's approach to conserving the landscape could "devastate" the endangered breed.
Cutting livestock grazing on the moor's commons, under new contracts from the government's conservation agency, could lead to the removal - and likely cull - of up to 90% hill ponies, said opponents.
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch called it "total madness" and has launched a petition.
Natural England said it wanted to maintain numbers of the semi-wild ponies on the moor "for generations to come", while a Downing Street spokeswoman said the government would not allow a cull and insisted the animals were safe.
Dartmoor hill ponies have been on the landscape for 4,500 years but numbers have declined - there were 6,000 on Dartmoor 25 years ago but now there are less than 1,000.
Natural England is including the ponies in livestock counts under its new moorland agri-environmental schemes that provide payments for farmers for grazing upland in ways that benefit nature.
Campaigners warned the new schemes would cut livestock, including hill ponies, by 56% to 89%.
They also said previous cuts – which the ponies were protected from in the past – had not boosted biodiversity on Dartmoor.
Dartmoor Hill Pony Association said the move would force commoners, who have rights to put livestock on the commons of the moor, to choose between commercial sheep and cattle, and the ponies for which they have traditionally been guardians.
The loss of hill ponies would be damaging for the biodiversity of the landscape, as they are the best grazer of the "monoculture" Molinia grass that has come to dominate the moor, Joss Hibbs, secretary of the DHPA which represents commoners, said.
She warned that if commoners chose commercial livestock to earn a living, the ponies would be lost, and if they chose the ponies they would become unviable and the farms would go - which would in turn lead to the loss of the ponies which are safeguarded by the farmers.
Hibbs said: "Natural England's approach will devastate the Dartmoor hill pony population, it will make farms financially unviable and it's extremely doubtful there will be any environmental benefit."
Devon-based Friends of the Dartmoor Hill Pony charity has called for long-term, legal protection of the remaining hill pony herds in recognition of their rare status, and a separate agreed moor-wide herd size, as was in place with previous contracts.
Campaigners also said Natural England should wait for the outcomes of the Land Use Management Group set up to implement the recommendations of a government-commissioned review in 2023, which is drawing up a land use plan for Dartmoor by 2027.
The Conservatives urged Labour to intervene, overrule Natural England and ensure Dartmoor's hill ponies were protected, calling the move "shameful and cruel".
Badenoch said: "This is total madness from another unaccountable quango.
"Keir Starmer is on his way to making his last acts in office the shameful under-funding of our military and the mass slaughter of Dartmoor ponies."
A Downing Street spokeswoman said the ponies played "a vital role in the health of its moorland habitats" and were "part of the cultural landscape".
She said: "So, let me be very clear on this - this government will not allow a cull of Dartmoor ponies and we don't manage feral pony populations by culling in this country.
"Natural England has not recommended a cull of Dartmoor ponies and it does not have the power to order a cull and has not advised one."
A spokesperson for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said: "In line with the Independent Review of Protected Site Management on Dartmoor, we are working with partners, including the Dartmoor Hill Pony Association to help ensure that we maintain numbers of semi-wild ponies on the moor for generations to come."
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