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Third vet review confirms Kosciuszko horse control humane as court rejects bid to stop program

The latest independent veterinary assessment of aerial shooting in Kosciuszko National Park has again found a “notable absence of adverse animal welfare events” and “no feral horses observed were non fatally wounded”, providing further evidence against misinformation being spread about the feral horse control program.

The assessment, undertaken by an independent veterinarian during operations in southern Kosciuszko National Park in July 2026, is the third independent veterinary assessment of aerial shooting in the park since the method resumed in 2023.

The veterinarian observed 180 feral horses pursued during three days of operations. Of the 154 horses shot, every animal was killed and no non-fatal wounding was observed. The median time from the first shot to insensibility was just eight seconds.

The report concluded that animal welfare outcomes were comparable with the independent assessments undertaken in 2023 and 2024 and that the standard operating procedure used by NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service was ‘fit-for-purpose’.

‘This is now 3 independent veterinary assessments telling us the same thing: aerial shooting in Kosciuszko National Park is being carried out safely, professionally and humanely, and to high animal welfare standards,’ Invasive Species Council CEO Jack Gough said.

‘This is one of the most closely scrutinised feral animal control programs anywhere in Australia. Claims that national park staff are routinely wounding horses or carrying out inhumane operations are false and repeated evidence proves that.

‘For a small vocal minority, it’s clear that no level of evidence or scrutiny will ever be enough because, ultimately, they don’t want to see a single feral horse removed from the park.

‘This latest assessment found no non-fatal wounding among the 154 horses shot. Ground inspections also confirmed the horses examined were dead, with no animals returning to sensibility.

‘No one likes to see animals killed, but the sad reality is that we have a choice to make between urgently reducing feral horse numbers or accepting the continued destruction of sensitive alpine ecosystems and habitats, and the decline and extinction of native animals.

‘Feral horses trample fragile wetlands, damage and pollute mountain streams and destroy habitat relied on by threatened native wildlife. These are impacts a national park exists to prevent.

‘This latest assessment was conducted in the more heavily forested southern part of Kosciuszko, yet the results remained consistent with the two previous assessments.

The findings come just days after the NSW Land and Environment Court rejected another attempt to halt feral horse control in Kosciuszko National Park. 

The Court found there was no serious question to be tried and that stopping control would allow the environmental damage caused by feral horses to continue, including impacts on threatened native species, Aboriginal artefacts and cultural landscapes

In July, the Court also rejected an application by pro-brumby activists seeking an injunction to halt aerial and ground shooting.

‘We’ve now seen repeated attempts to undermine this program through misinformation and the courts. Meanwhile, feral horses continue to trample wetlands, degrade streams and damage habitat for animals found nowhere else on Earth,’ Mr Gough said. 

‘Park managers should be allowed to get on with the job – reducing feral horse numbers and restoring Kosciuszko’s internationally significant alpine environment.’

Media inquiries: (02) 8006 5004

Background:

The 2026 assessment was conducted over three days in July in the southern third of Kosciuszko National Park. Unlike the more open country assessed previously, the area includes mountainous terrain, extensive eucalypt woodland, waterways and dense vegetation.

The veterinarian found animal welfare outcomes were similar to those recorded in the 2023 and 2024 assessments. The report noted an ‘absence of adverse animal events’, with no non-fatal wounding observed.

The assessment found:

  • 180 horses were pursued and 154 were shot and killed. The remaining 26 escaped without being shot.
  • No horses were observed escaping wounded.
  • Median time from the first shot to insensibility was eight seconds.
  • Twenty horses were inspected on the ground shortly after shooting and all were confirmed dead, with no instances of animals returning to sensibility.
  • 95% of bullet wound tracts recorded during ground inspections were to the thorax.
  • Lead-free ammunition was used, eliminating the risk of lead poisoning to native wildlife scavenging horse carcasses.

Further background:

  • The Kosciuszko Wild Horse Heritage Act was repealed in 2025 with cross-party support. However, the existing management plan remains in force while a replacement plan is developed, retaining the current target of 3,000 horses across designated retention areas covering about 32% of the park.
  • Feral horses cause extensive damage through grazing and trampling, including loss of vegetation, soil compaction and erosion, damage to waterways and reduced water quality. Threatened wildlife affected by feral horse habitat destruction includes the northern corroboree frog, alpine tree frog, alpine she-oak skink, mountain pygmy-possum and broad-toothed rat.
  • 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.
  • 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)
  • 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.

Information on all the previously lost court cases:

VIC:

NSW:

  • Snowy Mountains Brumby Sustainability & Management Group Incorporated v State of New South Wales [2020] NSWLEC 92. Judgement. The SMBSMG sought to restrain the State of New South Wales and the Chief Executive of the National Parks and Wildlife Service from completing wild horse management activities in Kosciuszko National Park. Justice Duggan dismissed the case. 
  • Snowy Mountain Bush Users Group Inc v Minister for the Environment [2024] NSWSC 1040. Judgement. Dismissed with SMBUG ordered to pay costs.

Related Content

Counting horses in Kosciuszko: a critique of the ‘independent’ survey
Meet the Invaders: Horses
24 fold increase in annual feral horse removals gives Kosciuszko’s native animals a chance

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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]