The Invasive Species Council welcomes the announcement today that the NSW government is consulting on changes to the Kosciuszko National Park Wild Horse Heritage Management Plan to allow aerial shooting as a method to reduce feral horse numbers.
Snowy River tour guide and Invasive Species Council Indigenous ambassador Richard Swain said:
‘For far too long the most humane and effective control method for the removal of feral herbivores has not been available for feral horses in Kosciuszko National Park.
‘The senseless ecological desecration caused to Country over the last 20 years has been a travesty.
‘I commend NSW environment minister Penny Sharpe for taking this step and encourage her to make a positive decision on behalf of soil, water and native species,’ he said.
Invasive Species Council advocacy manager Jack Gough said:
‘This is a really important decision by the NSW Government and reflects that the public mood has shifted on this issue. In recent years, Australians have become better-informed about the damage feral horses are doing to our wildlife and fragile alpine streams.
‘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.
‘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.
‘Without a change to remove the arbitrary prohibition on aerial shooting, feral horse numbers will keep growing and our native wildlife will pay the price.
‘Every year that the NSW government fails to take effective action means more horses must be removed, the damage to ecosystems, threatened species and Indigenous heritage will increase, and the cost to taxpayers will rise.
‘When it comes to managing the out-of-control feral horse population, we need all available tools in the toolbox. That includes aerial shooting by highly trained professionals using protocols reviewed by independent animal welfare experts.
‘The government’s own recent animal welfare review highlighted that aerial shooting is a humane, safe and effective way to reduce feral horse numbers.
‘At the recent NSW election, both sides of politics committed to rapidly reduce the numbers of feral horses trashing and trampling sensitive alpine ecosystems in Kosciuszko National Park.
‘If we want to protect the Snowy Mountains, headwaters of the mighty Murray, Murrumbidgee and Snowy Rivers and home to more than 50 threatened species like the corroboree frog and mountain pygmy possum, then we need to dramatically reduce feral horse numbers now,’ he said.
The consultation period runs until 11 September 2023.
View the proposed amendments.
Multimedia to accompany this story is available here.
Background notes:
- Hundreds of thousands of other feral animals, like pigs and deer, are routinely culled using aerial shooting as part of normal invasive species management across NSW, including in Kosciuszko National Park, by National Parks, Local Land Services and private landholders.
- In Kosciuszko National Park 4,583 deer, 669 feral pigs, 15 goats and 17 foxes were removed in the three years to the end of 2022 through aerial shooting.
- National Parks have a legal obligation to carry out control operations to reduce the feral horse population to 3,000 by 2027 to protect the Park.
- The numbers of feral horses being removed in NSW using currently available control techniques is well below the population growth rate and thus insufficient to control the growth or spread of feral horses. From July to December 2022, 525 feral horses were removed – well below the population growth rate of about 15% -18% per year.
- National Parks staff undertake this work professionally, humanely, and safely. This was confirmed last year by an independent animal welfare review of 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.
- The current management plan for feral horses, which was introduced by the former Liberal-National government, states that ‘Animal welfare assessments advise that, if undertaken in accordance with best practice, aerial shooting can have the lowest negative animal welfare impacts of all lethal control methods’.
- 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 population of feral horses in Kosciuszko National Park has rapidly increased due to delays and inaction, with the latest government population survey showing a 30% jump in the past 2 years to over 18,000.
- 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.
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 3,000 by 2027, 5,991 horses will have to be removed annually (based on an annual population growth rate of 15% – the average growth rate since 2003). The modelling finds that:
- At the current rate of removal of 1,050/year, the population could reach ~32,900 by 2027.
- 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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