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The mustang is a free-roaming horse of the American west that first descended from horses brought to the Americas by the Spanish. Mustangs are often referred to as wild horses, but because they are descended from once-domesticated horses, they are properly defined as feral horses. In 1971, the United States Congress recognized that "wild free-roaming horses and burros are living symbols of the historic and pioneer spirit of the West, which continue to contribute to the diversity of life forms within the Nation and enrich the lives of the American people."〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=The Wild and Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971, as amended )〕 In the 21st century, mustang herds vary in the degree to which they can be traced to original Iberian horses. Some contain a greater genetic mixture of ranch stock and more recent breed releases, while others are relatively unchanged from the original Iberian stock, most strongly represented in the most isolated populations. The free-roaming mustang population is managed and protected by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). Controversy surrounds the sharing of land and resources by the free-ranging mustangs with the livestock of the ranching industry, and also with the methods with which the federal government manages the wild population numbers. A policy of rounding up excess population and offering these horses for adoption to private owners has been inadequate to address questions of population control, and many animals now live in temporary holding areas, kept in captivity but not adopted to permanent homes. Advocates for mustangs also express concerns that the animals may be sold for horsemeat. Additional debate centers on the question of whether mustangs—and horses in general—are a native species or an introduced invasive species. Many methods of population management are used, including the adoption by private individuals of horses taken from the range. ==Etymology and usage== Mustangs are often referred to as wild horses, but since all free-roaming horses now in the Americas descended from horses that were once domesticated, a more proper term is feral horses.〔(The American Museum of Natural History ) The Nature of Horses〕 Unlike Przewalski's horse, the only extant wild horse, the mustang descended from domesticated horses. The English word ''mustang'' comes from the 16th-century Mexican Spanish word ''mestengo'', defined as "animal that strays". It is derived from the Spanish word ''mestengo'', defined as "wild, stray, ownerless". The Spanish word in turn may possibly originate from the Latin expression ''mixta'', referring to beasts of uncertain ownership, which were distributed by rancher's associations called ''mestas'' in Spain in the Middle Ages.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Online Etymology Dictionary )〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Mustang」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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