New herd of Dartmoor ponies will boost Thetford heathland

A new herd of endangered Dartmoor ponies have been brought in to help maintain the biodiversity of a forest.

Fifteen ponies will join 119 others already roaming the Thetford heathland in Norfolk.

Jonathan Preston, of the Norfolk Wildlife Trust, said: "They're effectively green lawnmowers, they'll come in and graze the sward right down to the floor."

The Dartmoor pony is officially recognised as a rare native breed, external.

The new herd for Thetford has come from breeders in Devon, where the animals originate from.

The ponies will join the existing herd, "delivering our conservation grazing programme across our nature reserves including East Wretham Heath and sites managed on behalf of Forestry England under the Brecks Heath Partnership", the trust said.

The breed has been selected for its ability to thrive on coarse vegetation, thereby providing a natural way to help manage vital wildlife habitat.

As selective grazers, the ponies can create a rich variety of different heights and species of vegetation, preventing delicate habitats from becoming dominated and overgrown.

"It's really important for many species, rare insects, flowers and birds," Mr Preston said, "birds like the stone curlew, nightjar, birds that are specialist birds of the area.

"This is another great opportunity for us to protect Norfolk's biodiversity and help secure the future of a rare native pony breed.

"As well as faring well on the mixed mire and heath sites of Norfolk - areas not dissimilar to Dartmoor - these ponies thrive on the grass heaths of the Norfolk Brecks, where other livestock have tended to lose condition."

The NWT urged people to keep dogs on leads when near the ponies - and never to feed them.

"It is important to maintain the ponies' wildness, because if they become too tame, they can become overly friendly to the public on our nature reserves rather than carry out important conservation grazing," the trust said.

Find BBC News: East of England on Facebook, external, Instagram, external and Twitter, external. If you have a story suggestion email eastofenglandnews@bbc.co.uk