About WHIMS

What Is WHIMS?

WHIMS—the Wild Horse Identification and Management System—is a visual database used to identify animals and track information for management of wild horses. The goal of WHIMS is to provide users with access to information necessary to identify horses and assist with management decisions. To this end, WHIMS consists of the following three components:

• The Photo Catalog archives field photographs and displays digital images of horses. It is essentially an organized digital scrapbook of horse images and related information. Digital cameras are an ideal way to acquire a horse identification image for WHIMS. Photographs on conventional 35mm film (slide or negative) can also be scanned and saved on CDs or DVDs for use in WHIMS. After downloading from a digital camera or scanning a slide, images typically need to be edited with desktop photo-editing software. For example, an individual horse in a photo of a harem may be enlarged and cropped for the online catalog. In addition, a photo can be edited to emphasize a unique feature of an individual horse.
• The Wild Horse Database stores data on individual horses and the images used to document their identities. Records are added to the database to describe a variety of horse attributes (e.g., identification number, color and markings, lineage, gender, life history, contraceptive treatments) and herd attributes (e.g., harem composition, social interactions, gathers, location).
• The Application Database is the core of WHIMS. It provides standard queries, forms, and logic to perform the most frequently encountered tasks of horse identification and agency record management. Horse managers use the Application Database to get quick, easy access to information on individual animals or the entire herd. It facilitates the data management of the Photo Catalog and the Wild Horse Database. Forms are used to simplify data entry, identify individual horses based on their attributes, and generate reports for management purposes including yearly birth and mortality, age-sex distribution, lineage trees, and contraceptive treatment histories.

Benefits of WHIMS

• WHIMS provides a standardized methodology to improve the consistency of horse identification and assist in addressing management issues.
• WHIMS provides an efficient, computer-supported, photo-identification and data management system.
• WHIMS generates reports that assist in assessing the need for management actions. (For example, WHIMS can provide data used to summarize harem composition, breeding records, and age composition in herds. WHIMS can also be used to track blood samples used for DNA analysis or to generate lists and pictures of horses to be removed from the range for adoption.)
• WHIMS tracks information that can aid in an animal's identification, including sex, harem or band affiliation, subpopulation or range preference, and parental lineage. It also tracks the history of individuals on the range, including removal and death.
• WHIMS utilizes standard desktop software, improving cost-effectiveness.
• WHIMS facilitates the sharing of photos and information about animals on the range among wild horse personnel and volunteers.
• WHIMS familiarizes new or seasonal employees, volunteers, and student interns with the horse population in a quick, organized manner.
• WHIMS is easy to use and comes with a comprehensive User's Manual.

Potential Users of WHIMS

• U.S. Bureau of Land Management, USDA Forest Service, and National Park Service wild horse managers.
• Federal and State land managers needing to track information on wild horse population levels, culling rates, disease status, age-specific survival, and fecundity.
• Federal adoption program managers needing better horse identification protocols to aid in adoption compliance and follow-up.
• Wild horse conservation organizations interested in herd status, population trends, genealogy, and breed-specific body markings.
• Individual horse owners desiring to adopt, raise, and breed wild horses.
• Academics and students modeling wild horse populations who are dependent on accurate individual identification for age-specific survival and fecundity data.