Fake news is putting Dartmoor’s ponies at risk.
New deep dive by me into the current furore around Dartmoor's ponies.
www.dartmoornature.org.uk/post/ponies-...
The Great Dartmoor Pony Cull Conspiracy of 2026 is such horseshit.
Nobody is proposing a cull, FFS!
Currently being whipped up on Musk's hellsite by the Leader of the Opposition, who clearly has nothing better to do.
Reality: www.dartmoornature.org.uk/post/ponies-...
There’s been a deluge of misinformation recently about ponies on Dartmoor. Dartmoor Nature Alliance’s Tony Whitehead looks at the origins and potential impacts of the current “pony campaigning". He st...
According to my article, misinformation in this space risks creating division, undermining constructive debate, and could even threaten future financial support for the very ponies campaigners want to protect.
The key lesson?
Ponies have always been included in and supported by Dartmoor's agri-environment schemes. See an example here of a few management areas in the Forest of Dartmoor commons HLS agreement.
For weeks, headlines and social media posts have claimed Dartmoor ponies face mass culls if they are to be included in new agri-environment schemes
They do not. The reality is very different.
The challenge is finding the right balance between supporting traditional grazing, restoring nature, and ensuring public money delivers environmental outcomes in a much-degraded natural landscape.
Difficult conversations about grazing, biodiversity, and public funding are essential. But they need facts, transparency, and collaboration, not misinformation.
When complex environmental issues are reduced to simplistic, ill-informed narratives, everyone loses: wildlife, farmers, commoners, regulators, and ultimately the iconic Dartmoor ponies themselves.
This is good news for a Friday.
Yet more rubbish - can I just say, again, neither Defra nor Natural England is proposing a cull!
www.standard.co.uk/news/politic...
