Wild horse dies after drinking contaminated water on NC’s Outer Banks

COROLLA, N.C. — Contaminated water is being blamed for the death of a wild horse on North Carolina’s Outer Banks.

The Corolla Wild Horse Fund announced that an 8-year-old stallion known as Taco died last week. The horse was known because of a lump he had on his hip. He’s the fourth stallion in the last two years to die due to bacteria or other contaminants in the water, the group said.

“Every single loss is a tragedy when you have such a small population to begin with, but some hit a bit harder than others,” the group wrote. “Taco had such a big personality.”

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Officials have collected water from various locations in the horse’s territory and will send it out for testing. They hope that this will reveal the quality of the water and the presence of contaminants such E. coli and salmonella.

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