Konik, Tarpan, European wild horse: An origin story with conservation implications

Horses are gaining importance in European nature conservation management, for which usually so-called primitive breeds are favored due to their claimed robustness. An increasingly popular breed, the Konik horse, is often said to be the direct descendent of the alleged European wild horse, the Tarpan...

Descripción completa

Guardado en:

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales:	Lilla Lovász, Antoine Fages, Valentin Amrhein
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Elsevier 2021
Materias:	Primitive horse Rewilding Taxonomy Horse breeding Domestication Ecology QH540-549.5
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/7d6891c19cc64de3ab275e6b0be4b534
Etiquetas:	Agregar Etiqueta Sin Etiquetas, Sea el primero en etiquetar este registro!

id	oai:doaj.org-article:7d6891c19cc64de3ab275e6b0be4b534
record_format	dspace
spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:7d6891c19cc64de3ab275e6b0be4b5342021-11-18T04:49:15ZKonik, Tarpan, European wild horse: An origin story with conservation implications2351-989410.1016/j.gecco.2021.e01911https://doaj.org/article/7d6891c19cc64de3ab275e6b0be4b5342021-12-01T00:00:00Zhttp://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2351989421004613https://doaj.org/toc/2351-9894Horses are gaining importance in European nature conservation management, for which usually so-called primitive breeds are favored due to their claimed robustness. An increasingly popular breed, the Konik horse, is often said to be the direct descendent of the alleged European wild horse, the Tarpan. However, both the direct descent of the Konik from European wild horses and the existence of the Tarpan as a wild species are highly debated. In this review, we scrutinized both contemporary research and historical sources and suggest that the Tarpan and the Konik as its direct descendent are manmade myths that hinder effective conservation management. We did not find evidence that the Tarpan was a wild horse rather than a feral horse. We did not find any evidence either for a closer connection between the Konik and any extinct wild horse than between other domestic breeds and wild horses. We discuss three perspectives on why the myth has become widely accepted and survived to this day: a historical-political, a biological-ecological, and an emotional perspective. It seems that the origin story of the Konik and its connection to the Tarpan was shaped by personal and political interests, including nationalistic ideas. These as well as general human emotions towards horses have influenced researchers and laypeople to keep the myth alive, which has been possibly negatively impacting contemporary nature conservation. Indeed, today’s Koniks originated from a small founder population of only six male lines that were selected according to their phenotypic traits, with the aim to rebreed the ‘wild Tarpan’. Strict breeding practices have led to high inbreeding levels in recent Konik populations, which may undermine nature conservation purposes. Therefore, we suggest that mythologized origin stories should not be an argument for selecting breeds of grazers for nature conservation.Lilla LovászAntoine FagesValentin AmrheinElsevierarticlePrimitive horseRewildingTaxonomyHorse breedingDomesticationEcologyQH540-549.5ENGlobal Ecology and Conservation, Vol 32, Iss , Pp e01911- (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Primitive horse Rewilding Taxonomy Horse breeding Domestication Ecology QH540-549.5
spellingShingle	Primitive horse Rewilding Taxonomy Horse breeding Domestication Ecology QH540-549.5 Lilla Lovász Antoine Fages Valentin Amrhein Konik, Tarpan, European wild horse: An origin story with conservation implications
description	Horses are gaining importance in European nature conservation management, for which usually so-called primitive breeds are favored due to their claimed robustness. An increasingly popular breed, the Konik horse, is often said to be the direct descendent of the alleged European wild horse, the Tarpan. However, both the direct descent of the Konik from European wild horses and the existence of the Tarpan as a wild species are highly debated. In this review, we scrutinized both contemporary research and historical sources and suggest that the Tarpan and the Konik as its direct descendent are manmade myths that hinder effective conservation management. We did not find evidence that the Tarpan was a wild horse rather than a feral horse. We did not find any evidence either for a closer connection between the Konik and any extinct wild horse than between other domestic breeds and wild horses. We discuss three perspectives on why the myth has become widely accepted and survived to this day: a historical-political, a biological-ecological, and an emotional perspective. It seems that the origin story of the Konik and its connection to the Tarpan was shaped by personal and political interests, including nationalistic ideas. These as well as general human emotions towards horses have influenced researchers and laypeople to keep the myth alive, which has been possibly negatively impacting contemporary nature conservation. Indeed, today’s Koniks originated from a small founder population of only six male lines that were selected according to their phenotypic traits, with the aim to rebreed the ‘wild Tarpan’. Strict breeding practices have led to high inbreeding levels in recent Konik populations, which may undermine nature conservation purposes. Therefore, we suggest that mythologized origin stories should not be an argument for selecting breeds of grazers for nature conservation.
format	article
author	Lilla Lovász Antoine Fages Valentin Amrhein
author_facet	Lilla Lovász Antoine Fages Valentin Amrhein
author_sort	Lilla Lovász
title	Konik, Tarpan, European wild horse: An origin story with conservation implications
title_short	Konik, Tarpan, European wild horse: An origin story with conservation implications
title_full	Konik, Tarpan, European wild horse: An origin story with conservation implications
title_fullStr	Konik, Tarpan, European wild horse: An origin story with conservation implications
title_full_unstemmed	Konik, Tarpan, European wild horse: An origin story with conservation implications
title_sort	konik, tarpan, european wild horse: an origin story with conservation implications
publisher	Elsevier
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/7d6891c19cc64de3ab275e6b0be4b534
work_keys_str_mv	AT lillalovasz koniktarpaneuropeanwildhorseanoriginstorywithconservationimplications AT antoinefages koniktarpaneuropeanwildhorseanoriginstorywithconservationimplications AT valentinamrhein koniktarpaneuropeanwildhorseanoriginstorywithconservationimplications
_version_	1718425048840142848

Konik, Tarpan, European wild horse: An origin story with conservation implications

Ejemplares similares