Plan to cull brumbies scrapped
NSW govt to work on relocating animals from sensitive alpine areas
SYDNEY: A controversial plan to cull 90% of the 6,000 wild horses in the mountains of eastern Australia was scrapped, local media reported.
The wild horses, known as brumbies, have lived in the rugged Kosciuszko National Park in the Snowy Mountains of New South Wales for 200 years and have become part of Australian folklore featuring in poems, songs, novels and movies.
But conservationists argued the horses damage the mountain environment, destroying wetlands and endangering native species.
A Wild Horse Management Plan handed to the NSW government in 2016 recommended reducing the number of horses in the park by 90% to just 600 over 20 years, primarily through culling.
The NSW government said yesterday it still aimed to reduce the wild horses by that number, but not by killing them.
The state’s Deputy Premier, John Barilaro, said the cultural signifi- cance of the brumbies needed to be recognised.
“Wild brumbies have been roaming the Australian Alps for almost 200 years and are part of the cultural fabric and folklore of the high country,” Barilaro said.
Instead the government will introduce legislation next week to protect the brumbies in certain areas.
“If brumbies are found in highly-sensitive alpine areas of Kosciuszko National Park, resources will be allocated towards relocation first, followed by re-homing, should population numbers grow too high,” Barilaro said.
Conservationist Graeme Worboys from the Australian National University in Canberra said the horses were not native to the mountains and do not belong in a national park.
“It only takes a couple of horses and time to trash a wetland,” Worboys said.