The Friends of the Yukon Wild Horses became a society in April 2024. Our mission statement is as follows: To monitor, document, study, and create public awareness to protect the Yukon wild horses.
Welcome to the Yukon Wild Horses website! The Yukon Wild Horses are the most northerly wild horses in the world, and must fend off predators like bears and wolves. They survive through the snow and cold of long, brutal winters of temperatures between -20 °C to -50 °C (that’s -4 °F to -58 °F to Imperial users) and as a result they are extremely sturdy and hardy animals who have adapted to the climate and geography of the area. The Yukon has been a backdrop for horses for millions of years, starting with the original horse ancestor which lived in the Yukon 30 to 55 million years ago. This horse was small and had four toes. The modern horse evolved in North America about 5 million years ago and was present during the Ice Age. In fact, wild horses lived in the Yukon at the same time as the Wooly Mammoth!
Because of valuable DNA information found in the permafrost, the Yukon is an exciting place to learn more about wild horses. Recent studies have found evidence of wild horses living in the Yukon at least 5,000 years ago, which changes the timeline of the theory of when horses left North America. (Other theories include the possibility that pockets of horses never left North America).
One of our goals is to find out more information on our current wild horses, including using DNA testing. The horses may be descended from horses brought to the Yukon which escaped or were let go free, possibly in the 80s or 90s, or possibly earlier. Many of them are pintos, and the draft look may come from a released stallion named Milkman in the 1980s. The current matriarch is called Tigerlily–a beautiful Medicine Hat wild horse. Many of the horses in the Ibex Valley are her descendants and benefit from her experience and wisdom.
The wild horses are a part of the Yukon’s heritage and history. They are a Yukon treasure and bring joy to those people lucky enough to see them!
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