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North Carolina wild horse killed after getting tangled in unmarked wire

OUTER BANKS, N.C. — A mustang from one of the Outer Banks wild herds died Saturday after getting tangled in an unmarked wire, according to OBX Today.

In a post on Facebook, the Corolla Wild Horse Fund said the herd manager got a call around 6 a.m. about a horse tangled in wire.

Some tragic news - At about 6am our herd manager received a call that there was a horse tangled up in some wire. Upon...

Posted by Corolla Wild Horse Fund on Saturday, July 13, 2019

Officials said the mustang died after running head-first into unmarked wire while the horses were chasing each other.

CWHF said the horse was respectfully buried not far from where she died.

Her foal Rosie, who was born in March, was the second horse born to the herd this year.

The CWHF said Rosie is old enough to not be fed by her mother so they hope to have her stay on the beach, where she can have "a chance at carrying on her mother's legacy in the wild."

"We brought the trailer up just in case we needed to rescue/remove her, but after observing her with the rest of the harem, we decided to leave Rosie on the beach for now," the fund said in a Facebook post. "She is grazing and drinking water, and the other mares in the harem are incredibly attentive and protective."

They said they will be keeping a close eye on Rosie for any signs of stress.

The fund said there were no humans involved in the incident.

Officials said the horse's death marks the second of the year in this herd. In June, one of the mustangs suffered a shoulder injury and had to be euthanized.

According to a new National Park Service study, the Shackleford Banks herd on the Outer Banks is getting smaller.

It had 116 horses at the end of last year, compared to 120 the year before.

The report also said the mortality rate was nine percent and the average is six percent.

The horses live, on average, about 11 years.