Tell the Prime Minister to protect Australia's wildlife from bird flu

THANK MINISTER COLLINS AND MINISTER PLIBERSEK

Thank Agriculture Minister Julie Collins and Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek for taking steps to protect Australia’s iconic wildlife from bird flu.

Thank Agriculture Minister Julie Collins and Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek for taking steps to protect Australia’s iconic wildlife from bird flu.

How To Help | Take Action

Thanks to persistent campaigning, the federal government has committed almost $100 million to prepare Australia and our wildlife from the threat of deadly H5N1 bird flu.

Since 2021, bird flu has wiped out millions of birds and tens of thousands of mammals.

This funding is a game-changer. With $35.9 million of the package set aside to protect vulnerable wildlife and biodiversity, we now have a real chance to save iconic species like the Tasmanian devil, black swans and sea lions from potential extinction.

Never before in history has an environmental biosecurity issue been offered this level of funding for preparedness.

That’s why huge thanks are in order for two particular politicians who have shown great leadership to protect Australia from this looming national disaster: Agriculture Minister Julie Collins and Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek.

Now, we can expect real ambition from our government to protect wildlife across the country.

Help us gather hundreds of messages of support so they know how grateful we are for listening to our calls.

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Thanks to persistent campaigning, the federal government has committed almost $100 million to prepare Australia and our wildlife from the threat of deadly H5N1 bird flu.

Since 2021, bird flu has wiped out millions of birds and tens of thousands of mammals.

This funding is a game-changer. With $35.9 million of the package set aside to protect vulnerable wildlife and biodiversity, we now have a real chance to save iconic species like the Tasmanian devil, black swans and sea lions from potential extinction.

Never before in history has an environmental biosecurity issue been offered this level of funding for preparedness.

That’s why huge thanks are in order for two particular politicians who have shown great leadership to protect Australia from this looming national disaster: Agriculture Minister Julie Collins and Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek.

Now, we can expect real ambition from our government to protect wildlife across the country.

Help us gather hundreds of messages of support so they know how grateful we are for listening to our calls.

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It’s great to see our elected officials make decisions in the best interests of wildlife, and something we should encourage more of. Take a moment to say thank you to Agriculture Minister Julie Collins and Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek for doing the right thing by nature.

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Dear Project Team,

[YOUR PERSONALISED MESSAGE WILL APPEAR HERE.]

I support the amendment to the Kosciuszko National Park Wild Horse Heritage Management Plan to allow our incredible National Parks staff to use aerial shooting as one method to rapidly reduce feral horse numbers. I want to see feral horse numbers urgently reduced in order to save the national park and our native wildlife that live there.

The current approach is not solving the problem. Feral horse numbers have rapidly increased in Kosciuszko National Park to around 18,000, a 30% jump in just the past 2 years. With the population so high, thousands of feral horses need to be removed annually to reduce numbers and stop our National Park becoming a horse paddock. Aerial shooting, undertaken humanely and safely by professionals using standard protocols, is the only way this can happen.

The government’s own management plan for feral horses states that ‘if undertaken in accordance with best practice, aerial shooting can have the lowest negative animal welfare impacts of all lethal control methods’.

This humane and effective practice is already used across Australia to manage hundreds of thousands of feral animals like horses, deer, pigs, and goats.

Trapping and rehoming of feral horses has been used in Kosciuszko National Park for well over a decade but has consistently failed to reduce the population, has delayed meaningful action and is expensive. There are too many feral horses in the Alps and not enough demand for rehoming for it to be relied upon for the reduction of the population.

Fertility control as a management tool is only effective for a small, geographically isolated, and accessible population of feral horses where the management outcome sought is to maintain the population at its current size. It is not a viable option to reduce the large and growing feral horse population in the vast and rugged terrain of Kosciuszko National Park.

Feral horses are trashing and trampling our sensitive alpine ecosystems and streams, causing the decline and extinction of native animals. The federal government’s Threatened Species Scientific Committee has stated that feral horses ‘may be the crucial factor that causes final extinction’ for 12 alpine species.

I recognise the sad reality that urgent and humane measures are necessary to urgently remove the horses or they will destroy the Snowies and the native wildlife that call the mountains home. I support a healthy national park where native species like the Corroboree Frog and Mountain Pygmy Possum can thrive.

Kind regards,

[Your name]

[Your email address]
[Your postcode]

Dear Project Team,

[YOUR PERSONALISED MESSAGE WILL APPEAR HERE.]

I support the amendment to the Kosciuszko National Park Wild Horse Heritage Management Plan to allow our incredible National Parks staff to use aerial shooting as one method to rapidly reduce feral horse numbers. I want to see feral horse numbers urgently reduced in order to save the national park and our native wildlife that live there.

The current approach is not solving the problem. Feral horse numbers have rapidly increased in Kosciuszko National Park to around 18,000, a 30% jump in just the past 2 years. With the population so high, thousands of feral horses need to be removed annually to reduce numbers and stop our National Park becoming a horse paddock. Aerial shooting, undertaken humanely and safely by professionals using standard protocols, is the only way this can happen.

The government’s own management plan for feral horses states that ‘if undertaken in accordance with best practice, aerial shooting can have the lowest negative animal welfare impacts of all lethal control methods’.

This humane and effective practice is already used across Australia to manage hundreds of thousands of feral animals like horses, deer, pigs, and goats.

Trapping and rehoming of feral horses has been used in Kosciuszko National Park for well over a decade but has consistently failed to reduce the population, has delayed meaningful action and is expensive. There are too many feral horses in the Alps and not enough demand for rehoming for it to be relied upon for the reduction of the population.

Fertility control as a management tool is only effective for a small, geographically isolated, and accessible population of feral horses where the management outcome sought is to maintain the population at its current size. It is not a viable option to reduce the large and growing feral horse population in the vast and rugged terrain of Kosciuszko National Park.

Feral horses are trashing and trampling our sensitive alpine ecosystems and streams, causing the decline and extinction of native animals. The federal government’s Threatened Species Scientific Committee has stated that feral horses ‘may be the crucial factor that causes final extinction’ for 12 alpine species.

I recognise the sad reality that urgent and humane measures are necessary to urgently remove the horses or they will destroy the Snowies and the native wildlife that call the mountains home. I support a healthy national park where native species like the Corroboree Frog and Mountain Pygmy Possum can thrive.

Kind regards,

[Your name]

[Your email address]
[Your postcode]