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SAVE THE AUSTRALIAN ALPS!

Make a high-impact submission to the Australian Senate inquiry into the management of feral horses in the Australian Alps. The deadline for submissions has been extended to 11:59PM Friday, 28 April.

For too long, inaction and delay by state governments has allowed feral horse numbers to spiral out of control across the Australian Alps, destroying our unique alpine wildlife, rivers and ecosystems.

But a new Federal Senate inquiry is a powerful opportunity to hold these state governments to account. This is the moment we’ve been fighting for. 

Independent Senator David Pocock has successfully launched a formal inquiry by the Australian Senate into the impacts and management of feral horses in the Australian Alps. 

Whether you live in the alps, have visited them on holiday, or just give a damn about our precious alpine and sub-alpine regions and their unique wildlife, now is your time to act.

Complete this form to receive your writing kit which will make it easy for you to send an impactful submission to the senate inquiry on feral horse management in Australia’s Alps. 

For too long, inaction and delay by state governments has allowed feral horse numbers to spiral out of control across the Australian Alps, destroying our unique alpine wildlife, rivers and ecosystems.

But a new Federal Senate inquiry is a powerful opportunity to hold these state governments to account. This is the moment we’ve been fighting for. 

Independent Senator David Pocock has successfully launched a formal inquiry by the Australian Senate into the impacts and management of feral horses in the Australian Alps. 

Whether you live in the alps, have visited them on holiday, or just give a damn about our precious alpine and sub-alpine regions and their unique wildlife, now is your time to act.

Complete this form to receive your writing kit which will make it easy for you to send an impactful submission to the senate inquiry on feral horse management in Australia’s Alps. 

Your submission will help:

  1. Put a spotlight on the feral horse issue and the years of failures by the NSW and Victorian governments to take adequate action to protect wildlife and ecosystems by rapidly reducing feral horse numbers in the Alps.
  2. Encourage federal government intervention, including federal funding and regulations to force state governments to act. Importantly, Australian Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek has explicitly backed the inquiry as a way for her “to ensure that we are doing everything we can”.
  3. Push for important changes to national environmental law which will ensure places like the Australian Alps are better protected. The federal government has promised changes to environmental law this year and this inquiry will inform both the government and the Senate crossbench’s consideration in that process.

By writing a submission, you will help shape the final report of the inquiry and demonstrate that there is a groundswell of the community demanding action on this critical issue.  
 
We realise writing a submission is a step above the usual petition and email campaigns you may be used to, so we have set up a writing kit to make the process as accessible and easy as possible. Please complete the form to get your customised writing kit sent directly to your inbox. 
 
The kit includes step-by-step instructions on what you need to include as well as a science-based guide on key issues and solutions so you can write a high-impact submission before the window for public consultation closes! Let’s not miss this rare opportunity to get national attention on saving the Australian Alps from the damage wrought by feral horses. 

The public submission period has now closed.

Thank you to the over 1,500 people who stood up for the Australian Alps! Keep an eye on your inbox and on our socials for updates on this campaign.

If missed out one this one but are still keen to help protect nature from invasive species, we have a range of other important actions you can take right now via our Take Action page.

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Your support to protect critically endangered and vulnerable species from extinction is vital. Together, we can ensure governments prioritise action on invasive species and protect our wildlife and iconic places.

The Invasive Species Council was formed in 2002 to seek stronger laws, policies and programs to protect nature from harmful pests, weeds and diseases.

The Invasive Species Council acknowledges the Traditional Custodians throughout Australia and their connections to land and sea. We pay our respect to their Elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.

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Your gift is a lifeline for nature.

Our protected areas are being trashed, trampled, choked and polluted by an onslaught of invaders. Invasive species are already the overwhelming driver of our animal extinction rate, and are expected to cause 75 of the next 100 extinctions.

But you can help to turn this around and create a wildlife revival in Australia. 

From numbats to night parrots, a tax-deductible donation today can help defend our wildlife against the threat of invasive weeds, predators, and diseases.

As the only national advocacy environment group dedicated to stopping this mega threat, your gift will make a big difference.

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A silent crisis is unfolding across Australia. Every year, billions of native animals are hunted and killed by cats and foxes. Fire ants continue to spread and threaten human health. And the deadly strain of bird flu looms on the horizon. Your donation today will be used to put the invasive species threat in the media, make invasive species a government priority, ensure governments take rapid action to protect nature and our remarkable native wildlife from invasives-led extinction, death and destruction.

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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]