Great Britain’s famed New Forest ponies are a bit safer thanks to a trial to prevent them from getting close to the roadways and getting struck and killed by vehicles.
According to the BBC, the ponies had developed the fatal habit of roaming close to the highways, attracted by road salt. After the death of four ponies in a single crash in 2020, there was a huge public outcry. Tony Vanderhoek, who is with the New Forest Commoners Defense Association, said that the solution was to fill plastic tubs with Himalayan rock salt, which does not dissolve easily in rain, and place them strategically near roadways considered “notorious” for pony deaths to lure the animals away from the routes where “They’re in danger of being run over if people aren’t paying attention.”
In 2024 a total of 22 ponies were killed, and while that number might still seem high, it is actually a record low. By comparison, in 2019, 58 animals were killed and 32 were injured, according to the New Forest National Park Authority.
“The animals lick the salt day and night and this is what we have to remind people of,” Gilly Jones of New Forest Roads Awareness tells the BBC. “It’s safer for them, it’s safer for the drivers because obviously no one wants to have an incident involving livestock.”
In this part of England farmers and “commoners” have the right to use the land for grazing, paying an annual fee, hence the New Forest is home to thousands of animals including cattle, donkeys and ponies roaming freely.
“It doesn’t get any easier,” Sally Jolly, whose pony was killed in a hit-and-run in December, says to the British broadcaster. “I think people think that we’ve got quite a few ponies, but they’re like family to us.”