A Buchan nature reserve has welcomed a herd of rare horses to its site in a bid to improve its wetland habitats.

RSPB Loch of Strathbeg, near Crimond, has drafted in the help of eight konik horses to help enhance its conservation work through their natural grazing.

Hardier than their domestic cousins, konik horses are resistant to harsh climates and adept at foraging in the wild.

Experts say their ability to graze on courser grass, sedges and rushes can also help boost biodiversity.

Loch of Strathbeg manager, Dominic Funnell, said the horses would get the marsh into good condition again, as currently they invest twice a year in expensive machinery to do the cutting at the site.

He said: "Koniks love eating rank tussocky vegetation and we have lots of it at Strathbeg.

“Currently we have to artificially strip it away to ensure our wetlands remain in top condition. But now, thanks the grazing habits of these horses, we can ditch the machines and get back to an au naturel approach to habitat management.”

Mr Funnell also said the new addition would be beneficial to the many species of birds on the site – which need wetlands to feed and breed.

He added: “It's great news for the geese, swans, ducks and wading birds, like lapwings and curlew, which need wetlands to feed and breed, and it means we will have more time to concentrate on other conservation work.

"These horses will be doing an important job for us, so to make sure they're not disturbed, they'll be working on the less public areas of the reserve.

“Visitors will be able to see them distantly from Tower Pool hide and be able to hear more about their work in the visitor centre and on the reserve website."

Before their arrival in the North-east yesterday, the eight foals were under the care of Canterbury-based conservation charity the Wildwood Trust.

The charity has already enlisted konik horses as part of another conservation grazing project on nature reserves in Kent.

Trust chief executive Peter Smith said: "We are delighted to be able to give these horses to the RSPB.

“As a natural resource, the konik horse offers conservationists a way of saving more wildlife for less money.”

The konik is a direct descendent of the Tarpan breed, a wild forest horse driven to extinction in central Europe in the late 19th century.

To find out more about the Loch of Strathbeg click here.