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A proposed plan to cull wild horses in the Kosciuszko National Park has been scrapped, with any future culls to be outlawed under proposed plans from the New South Wales Government. There has long been discussion over the presence of around 6,000 brumbies in the National Park, with conservationists concerned the horses pose a threat to the environment.
However, the 2016 draft Wild Horse Management Plan proved that any culling would prove controversial, with that plan proposing the reduction of the horse population by 90 percent over the next two decades. The draft Management Plan would see the population of brumbies in the Snowy Mountains reduced to around 600 animals through a number of methods, including ground shooting.
An immediate backlash was felt by the government, with a large portion of the community feeling that the historical and cultural significance of the brumby was not being respected. Nearly two years after the release of the Draft Management Plan, and following a hard fought battle within the government, the plan has been abandoned, and the right of the brumbies to exist in the National Park acknowledged. The new bill before parliament will instead see areas in the Park monitored for environmental damage, and brumbies transported around the park to areas where the risk of ecological damage is lower. In terms of longer-term population control, the bill proposes the use of fertility control, which would see population growth slow. Concerns remain regarding the presence of wild horses in the Park as they, along with other invasive species including pigs and deer, risk damaging the wetlands and bogs of the Snowy Mountains.
This is a particularly crucial issue, as the area is home to some of Australia’s most endangered species, including the corroboree tree frog, the pygmy possum and the broad toothed rat. The state Labor opposition has ruled out supporting the government’s wild horse plan, saying it ignores science and the irreversible damage the unmanaged wild horse populations have done to the National Park.
Instead, the Labor opposition wishes to see a smaller population of brumbies retained in an area of the park where degradation is less critical. The Kosciuszko National Park is one of the most important in NSW, having drawn the most visitors of all parks outside the Greater Sydney Region. Visitation has grown by 52 percent from 2014 to 2016, with over 2 million people visiting each year.
The brumby has a unique cultural and historical place within Australia, with the horses believed to be descendants of the first horses that came to Australia with convicts and settlers. The name ‘Brumby’ is theorised to have come from an early settler, James Brumby, whose horses were left to free range and readily adapted to the climate of the Australian bush. The horses would play a crucial role during the Boer War and both World Wars, having been drafted for use in early Light Horse Regiments. Banjo Paterson would celebrate the brumby in his poems, ‘The Man from Snowy River’ and ‘Brumby’s Run’, and our $10 note depicts the wild horse in recognition of its cultural significance.
