Konik ponies at Blacktoft sands

The Konik is a small but hardy breed, directly descended from the Tarpan, a wild horse driven to extinction in central Europe in the late 19thcentury. Konik ponies have been grazing many nature reserves in Europe to help wildlife over the past decade but the ones at Blacktoft are the first ever in Yorkshire.
By chomping their way through dense areas of grass, the ponies have made homes for ground-nesting birds including skylarks and also provided suitable winter feeding grounds for wading birds like curlews.
The ponies have also grazed their way through the reserve’s reedbed, opening up new pools and channels that attract fish and amphibians, which in turn, have provided a banquet for the reserve’s rare and secretive bitterns.