Brumbies a bushfire pest, says minister Sussan Ley

Sussan Ley has warned wild horses are holding back the recovery of ecosystems and vital waterways in the bushfire-ravaged ­Alpine region.

Brumbies run wild in the Kosciuszko National Park. Picture: Sean Davey

Federal Environment Minister Sussan Ley has warned wild horses are holding back the recovery of ecosystems and vital waterways in the bushfire-ravaged ­Alpine region, reigniting the ­debate over the culling of the ­animals after the Black Summer.

The government will unveil an $8m federal bushfire recovery funding package for Australia’s Alpine region on Saturday, after Ms Ley visited the area to inspect the widespread damage caused by the brumbies — which are prevented from being shot under NSW law.

Ms Ley said the consultation process for the funding package had revealed that the impact of hard-hooved animals in the ­region was a key issue.

The latest figures from the Australian Alps feral horse aerial survey show there are about 25,000 wild horses in the region.

Ms Ley, whose electorate of ­Farrer hugs the ridge line of Mount Kosciuszko, told The Weekend Australian that the ­environmental damage caused by the brumbies needed to be ­urgently addressed.

“What we have seen is long-term degradation and a call to ­action when it comes to hard-hooved animals and their effect on the park,” she said.

“With events such as the Black Summer bushfires, recovery is ­absolutely vital for the future habitat of our threatened species.”

The ACT, NSW and Victorian governments will share the $8m in federal funding and will be able to choose which environmental projects to spend it on.

While the ACT has a zero-­tolerance policy towards feral ­animals, brumbies are protected from being shot in NSW, a law that has been supported by Deputy Premier John Barilaro.

In May, Parks Victoria won a legal challenge in the Federal Court to resume the culling of the animals after The Australian Brumby Alliance had challenged the decision.

Ms Ley will dial up the pressure on NSW, Victoria and the ACT to take action by relaying to her state counterparts the detrimental impact that the brumbies are having on the region.

“The bushfires have really ­revealed the pressure this park is under — and indeed the whole ­Alpine region across three states — and feral horses are clearly ­putting massive pressure on the park,” she said.

Richard Swain surveys the damage brumbies have caused to the park’s waterways. Picture: Sean Davey.

The Invasive Species Council’s Indigenous ambassador, Richard Swain, said the horses damaged the area’s waterways by trampling on vegetation that is needed to filter the river streams.

“The Snowy Mountains supplies roughly a third of the Murray-Darling Basin’s water, and we are not even a kilometre from the start of these birth­places — and we are destroying it with a common farm animal,” Mr Swain told The Weekend Australian.

“It shows you that we don’t care. If you can see the first millimetre of the Murrumbidgee is not being protected, it shows that we don’t care as a nation.”

The horses’ tracks that wind through the plains also dry out the vegetation, posing a fire risk.

ANU environmental research professor Jamie Pittock said the grazing and trampling of the wild horses had compounded the damage from the recent bushfires that had blackened large swathes of the national park.

“Good land management reduces the fire risk because you end up with wetlands that create green firebreaks across the tops of the mountains. These are the things we’re losing because the feral animals are not properly controlled,” he said.