The NSW Upper House has today released its report following an inquiry into the aerial shooting of feral horses in Kosciuszko National Park.
The report finds:
- The count methodology used by the NSW government to count horses in Kosciuszko National Park uses current global best practice methods.
- Aerial shooting is the only method that allows the NSW government to reach the legislated target of 3,000 horses in the park by the 2027 deadline. All other methods are unable to reach the target number by the deadline.
- There is no clear evidence that any breaches to animal welfare have occurred.
- The National Parks and Wildlife staff have often faced terrible abuse online and in the community.
It also recommends:
- That aerial control of horses, as well as other invasive animals, should continue in NSW as a way of protecting the natural environment.
- The NSW government should have an appropriate, independent third-party review of the Standard Operating Procedure regularly to ensure it continues to reflect best practice and is as robust and humane as possible.
‘The strong cross-party support from Labor, Liberals, Greens and independents for effective control, including through aerial shooting, reflects the strong public support for action to protect our wildlife and streams from being trashed, trampled and polluted by feral horses,’ Invasive Species Council Advocacy Director Jack Gough said.
‘Aerial culling by highly trained professionals is the only viable way of reducing numbers and saving the national park and our native animals that live there.
‘This report should once and for all end the ridiculous anti-science questioning of the feral horse count figures by a small minority that do not want to see a single feral horse removed from the National Park.
‘The ongoing harassment, abuse and intimidation of National Parks staff by some extreme individuals must also cease.
’We have full confidence that National Park staff are undertaking these important operations professionally, safely and humanely, as has been confirmed by numerous independent reviews, including by the RSPCA and vets.
‘No one likes to see animals killed, but the sad reality is that we have a choice to make between urgently reducing the numbers of feral horses or accepting the destruction of sensitive alpine rivers, and the decline and extinction of native animals and their homes.
‘For the first time in 2 decades, we are finally seeing our sensitive National Parks healing from the destruction of feral horses. The recent successful control programs in Barrington Tops and World Heritage Gondwana Rainforests, as well as Blue Mountains World Heritage areas, are testament to the commitment and leadership on this issue from the Minns Government.
‘The NSW Parliament should now repeal the ridiculous Barilaro law that still prioritises feral horses over native animals in Kosciuszko National Park.
‘We particularly want to thank Labor MP Bob Nanva, Liberal MP Aileen MacDonald and Greens MP Sue Higginson for their constructive and robust work on this important inquiry. The cross party support and collaboration on this difficult environment issue has been essential to the recent changes to allow effective feral horse control.’
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Background notes:
- A November 2023 NSW government survey of feral horse numbers found that there are about 17,393 feral horses in Kosciuszko National Park (with a 95% confidence interval of between 12,797 and 21,760). This is an increase from about 6,000 feral horses in 2014.
- This population survey was completed by an independent expert from the University of New England and has been peer-reviewed by the CSIRO and the Queensland Department of Agriculture and Fisheries.
- In NSW, feral horses are protected at the expense of native wildlife under the Kosciuszko Wild Horse Heritage Act 2018, which requires a ‘heritage herd’ of feral horses to be maintained in Kosciuszko National Park.
- The current management plan for feral horses, which was introduced by the former Liberal Government, imposes a legal obligation on NSW National Parks to carry out control operations to reduce the feral horse population to 3,000 across 32% of Kosciuszko National Park by 2027.
- According to the NSW Government evidence on 23 May 2024 to the NSW Legislative Council, 8,718 feral horses were removed from Kosciuszko National Park between November 2021, when the current management plan commenced, and 22 May 2024. Of these, 6,179 have been removed since the last population count in October 2023 and 5,539 have been removed using aerial shooting, which was approved in October 2023.
- The 2023 amendment to allow aerial shooting was supported by the RSPCA NSW, the Australian Academy of Science, the Australian Veterinary Association, the Public Service Association of NSW, the Royal Zoological Society of NSW, the Brungle Tumut Local Aboriginal Land Council, the NSW Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Advisory Committee, the Kosciuszko National Park Wild Horse Heritage Community Advisory Panel, the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Advisory Council and the Southern Ranges NPWS Regional Advisory Committee.
- Between July 2021 and June 2023, 239,034 feral animals, including feral pigs, deer and horses, were removed across NSW using aerial shooting by the NSW Government (National Parks and Wildlife Service and Local Land Services combined).
- The Australian Senate inquiry report into the Impacts and management of feral horses in the Australian Alps was released in October 2023 and recommended that:
- Aerial shooting should be adopted for control of feral horses in NSW (adopted by the NSW Government in October 2023)
- Habitat degradation, competition and disease transmission by feral horses should be listed as a Key Threatening Process under national environmental law (Agreed to in principle in federal government response)
- The federal government should provide additional funding to assist NSW and Victoria to control feral horses (Not yet agreed to by the Albanese Government)
- The Senate committee also found that it ‘is not currently possible for both the EPBC Act and the NSW Kosciuszko Wild Horse Heritage Act 2018 to be complied with’ and that ‘the committee considers that there may be an issue relating to the constitutional validity of the NSW Wild Horse Heritage Act to the extent it is inconsistent with the EPBC Act.’
- National Parks staff undertake feral horse control work professionally, humanely, and safely. This has been confirmed by two independent animal welfare reviews (here and here) of NSW feral horse control operations which found that:
- Animal welfare outcomes are prioritised and are better than predicted, as confirmed by independent veterinary observations.
- There was no evidence of non-kill shots having been taken.
- Standard Operating Procedures are rigorously followed, and all personnel have welfare as a priority.
- Australia’s alpine plants and animals did not evolve with heavy, hard-hoofed feral horses. They are not native and cause enormous damage to sensitive habitat, degrading and polluting alpine streams and driving native species towards extinction.
- The federal government’s Threatened Species Scientific Committee have described feral horses as an ‘imminent threat’ to the Albanese government’s commitment to prevent new extinctions of plants and animals and stated that feral horses ‘may be the crucial factor that causes final extinction’ for 12 alpine species.
- The 2023 state election demonstrated that having a strong position on feral horse management in Kosciuszko was electorally popular. There were strong swings to candidates and parties that took firm positions on feral horse control, most notably in the seats of Wagga Wagga and Monaro.
- 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 the Australian Alps.
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