Sussan Ley backs NSW on Kosciuszko brumby cull plan

Environment Minister Sussan Ley has backed the NSW government’s plan to cull more wild horses in Kosciuszko National Park.

Brumbies in the Kosciuszko National Park in Kiandra, NSW. Picture: Sean Davey

Environment Minister Sussan Ley has backed the NSW government’s plan to cull more wild horses in Kosciuszko National Park, saying state governments can no longer ignore the damage brumbies cause to the ecosystem.

Last week, the first aerial survey since the catastrophic 2019 and 2020 fires revealed that there were an estimated 14,000 horses in the national park — 5000 fewer than the previous year. But the survey, conducted in October and November, shows the population of horses is still far greater than estimates of about 2000 in 2005 and 6000 in 2014.

Wild horses trample on fragile land, erode waterways and destroy the habitat of endangered species. The horses also compound the environmental impact of bushfires by trampling and grazing during revegetation.

Ms Ley told the Australian on Tuesday the environmental destruction caused by horses in the fragile alpine environment meant they had to be culled.

“No matter which way you look at it, anything like 14,000 horses in the park is too many,” she said.

“There is a growing recognit­ion the environmental concerns are real and need to be addressed.

“That isn’t an attack on brumbies — it is simply a recognition of what is happening on the ground.

“Anyone who loves horses as I do know that we need a humane and sensible approach but we can’t simply pretend the problem isn’t there.”

NSW Environment Minister Matt Kean said the survey highlighted that the number of feral horses in the Kosciuszko National Park was environmentally unsustainable. A Feral Horse Aerial Survey conducted between 2014 to 2019 showed that the horse population was increasing by about 20 per cent per year.

The survey will inform the state government’s new draft wild horses management plan for how to reduce the population to a sustainable level, due to be released in coming months.

The ACT and Victorian government permit shooting of brumbies to reduce populations, but NSW’s legislation prevents aerial culling of horses.

The NSW government is currently removing brumbies from the national park using trapping and rehoming methods. It says 340 were removed using these methods in 2020.

NSW Deputy Premier and Nationals leader John Barilaro, who has previously argued against reducing the numbers of horses, said the latest count showed the population was too high and active management was needed to protect the park’s environment.

Mr Barilaro, whose electorate of Monaro includes parts of the Kosciuszko National Park, had previously urged Mr Kean to commission a recount of the horses in the park, following prolonged drought and bushfires that left horse carcasses scattered in the area.

Invasive Species Council chief executive Andrew Cox said: “We are still going backwards, not forward, on this problem and clearly trapping is failing to keep pace with exponential breeding rates.”