The NSW Supreme Court has today comprehensively dismissed a legal challenge from a pro-feral horse group seeking to overturn the use of aerial shooting in Kosciuszko National Park. The Snowy Mountain Bush Users Group Inc has been order to pay taxpayers costs.
Jack Gough, Advocacy Director of the Invasive Species Council said:
‘We are pleased that the ongoing removal of feral horses from Kosciuszko National Park will continue through the use of aerial shooting.
‘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.
‘This is a comprehensive dismissal of a deeply flawed legal challenge by a small group who don’t want to see a single horse removed from Kosciuszko National Park.
‘The original grounds for the challenge were that there were animal welfare issues or problems with the scientific count of horses. The plaintiffs then dropped these grounds when they clearly realised they had no hope of success.
‘Instead they focussed on a narrow procedural argument which the Supreme Court has thrown out. The court has also ordered this group to pay the taxpayers costs of defending this case.
‘We have now seen 7 cases in Victoria and NSW where a small group who don’t want to see a single horse removed are trying to frustrate the important work of our national park staff. Every single one of these court cases have been dismissed.
‘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 ecosystems and habitats, and the decline and extinction of native animals.
‘A Senate Inquiry questioned the constitutional validity of this legislation and its ability to comply with both the EPBC Act and the NSW Kosciuszko Wild Horse Heritage Act 2018.
‘With Labor, the Liberals, the Greens and key independents all committed to urgently removing feral horses from the Snowies, the Parliament must now step in and step up to fix this law urgently.
‘We may not like it, but 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.’
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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.
- The video of Claire Galea saying in November 2023 that she would be “amazed if there’s 5 or 6 hundred horses at most” is here (at 20 min): ONEEGS Recording #047 – WHO WILL SAVE OUR HERITAGE WILD HORSES? (youtube.com)
- The video of Peter Cochrane saying in July 2021 that “there’s lucky to be 900” feral horses is here (at 3 min 38s): (20+) Video | Facebook
How many feral horses need to be removed to reduce the population?
Modelling conducted for the Invasive Species Council by ecologist Dr Don Fletcher has found that to get to the legally required population of 3,000 by 2027, about 5,991 horses will have to be removed annually.
This is based on the population survey in November 2023 which found there were approximately 17,432 feral horses in the National Park and uses an annual population growth rate of 15% – the average growth rate since 2003.
The modelling also found that:
- Just to stop the population from growing, 2,825 horses will have to be removed every year.
- At a higher 18% growth rate, 6,419 will have to be removed annually to reach 3,000 by 2027.
- Delaying adequate action will increase the cost, damage and number of feral horses killed. For example, a 3-year delay in reaching 3,000 will mean an extra 6-7,000 feral horses are killed.
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