COROLLA, N.C. (WAVY) — The wild horses of Corolla welcomed their first foal of 2019 on Sunday, according to the Corolla Wild Horse Fund (CWHF).
CWHF says they do not know the gender of the baby yet, but the foal and its mother are in “good condition.”
This foal was named Renzi, in honor of a woman with terminal illnesses who had always dreamed of seeing the wild horses. The CWHF says Melissa Renzi crossed it off her bucket list the same weekend the foal was born.
Renzi is part of a herd with roughly 100 Colonial Spanish mustangs. According to CWHF, there are only two groups of this highly-threatened breed left.
CWHF helps to manage the wild horses. They administer an FDA-approved substance called PZP (porcine zona pelucida) in dart-form to a select group of mares annually in an effort to help sustain the population. This method is considered the least invasive, CWHF says.
They usually see an average of six new foals per year, but they are hoping for more in 2019 to offset an aging population, deaths and other factors.