Wild horse Alluvium to be adopted by private owner

MEDORA, N.D. ( KXNET ) — We’re finding out more now about a wild horse that was rounded up and separated near Medora this summer. It now appears park workers have sold the horse ‘Alluvium’.

This comes after an incident in May in which park workers say Alluvium was acting aggressive toward a group of trail riders in the Roundup Horse Camp.
In a statement, the park said because Alluvium doesn’t fear humans, his affection for the campground and demonstrating negative behavior, they wouldn’t release him back into the park.

This week, Theodore Roosevelt National Park workers say they were approached by a private owner who sent in a bid to adopt and care for the bachelor stallion.

But supporters with the group Chasing Horses Wild Horse Advocates say Alluvium was never listed on the government auction website. Chris Kman with CHWHA has been writing letters to the park superintendent asking to be part of the conversation.

“This could have been an opportunity for them to start bridging gaps with the public and regaining trust, and instead they made things worse,” Kman said. “There’s a lot of our followers who don’t believe that Alluvium was adopted out anywhere, they don’t trust that the park didn’t just euthanize him. And we have no way of knowing.”

KX News left a message with the park office on Friday, we’ve also submitted a Freedom of Information Act request to obtain more details about circumstances of Alluvium’s care.
Today, the National Park Service sent us a copy of what’s known as their ‘categorical exclusion’ policy.

That explains some of the reasoning why an animal may be removed from the park. You can read the park’s latest statement about Alluvium here .

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