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Where does Barilaro really stand on feral horses?

NSW Deputy Premier and MP for Monaro John Barilaro. Photo: CEBIT Australia | CC BY 2.0
NSW Deputy Premier and MP for Monaro John Barilaro. Photo: CEBIT Australia | CC BY 2.0

NSW Deputy Premier John Barilaro continues to duck and weave on his plan for feral horses in Kosciuszko National Park as horse numbers continue to grow.

In a significant policy shift on Friday 1 March 2019, Mr Barilaro told a Jindabyne candidates forum he wants an ‘immediate’ reduction of horse numbers by 50%.

On Monday 4 March he told SE ABC Radio first a horse count is needed before acting.

“We agree the problem of growing feral horse numbers in Kosciuszko National Park is urgent, but we see no sign of action from the current NSW Government or Deputy Premier John Barilaro,” Invasive Species Council CEO Andrew Cox said today.

“Within just a few days Mr Barilaro has managed to completely contradict himself on the best course of action for dealing with destructive feral horses in Kosciuszko National Park.

“It’s time Mr Barilaro set the record straight on exactly where he stands so that the people in his seat of Monaro can vote in someone prepared to protect Kosciuszko National Park from feral horses, not someone ready to let these destructive pests trash one of Australia’s most treasured national parks.”

In response to a number of outlandish claims made by Mr Barilaro about the management of feral horses Reclaim Kosci has published a John Barilaro ‘fact checker’.

Reclaim Kosci is led by the Invasive Species Council and supported by the National Parks Association of the ACT, National Parks Association of NSW, Colong Foundation for Wilderness and the Nature Conservation Council of NSW.

“The deputy premier has continually repeated misconceptions regarding feral horse management and the Kosciuszko Wild Horse Heritage Act,” Mr Cox said. “This fact checker sets the record straight.”

It is now nine months since the Kosciuszko Wild Horse Heritage Act, which protects feral horses in Kosciuszko National Park, became law. And yet:

  • A committee has not been appointed.
  • There is no new horse plan.
  • There is no instruction to NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service to get on with the job.

Meanwhile FOI documents obtained by the Invasive Species Council have revealed numerous reports of feral horse attacks on campers in Kosciuszko National Park and one of a 16-year-old boy being hospitalised at Blue Waterholes campground. The NPWS rates the probability of further incidents at the campground resulting in medical treatment and hospitalisation as ‘likely’.

No horses have been removed from the southern end of the park for almost three years, 18 months in the northern end.

“If Mr Barilaro and his government were serious about protecting Kosciuszko National Park we would see an immediate restart of horse trapping to reduce threats to visitor safety and the environment,” Mr Cox said.

“When it comes to feral horse management Mr Barilaro makes seemingly impossible promises and at every turn stymies action to reduce horse numbers.”

Reclaim Kosci

The Invasive Species Council is fighting back against the failure to protect Kosciuszko National Park from feral horses and is the lead organisation behind Reclaim Kosci, which is:

  • Raising awareness about the impacts of feral horses in Kosciuszko National Park.
  • Championing the campaign to repeal the Kosciuszko Wild Horse Heritage Act 2018.
  • Seeking a substantial reduction in the feral horse population in Kosciuszko National Park through humane and effective means.

[button link=”https://reclaimkosci.org.au/”]Visit ReclaimKosci.org.au >>[/button]

Related Content

Flowers on Watsons Crags, Townsend Ridge in background, Kosciuszko NP, credit Mike Bremers
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Counting horses in Kosciuszko: a critique of the ‘independent’ survey
Feral Deer Control: A Strategy for Tasmania

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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]