Snowy Mountains brumbies should be culled by 90% over 20 years – draft plan

Draft wild horse management plan for Kosciuszko national park aims to cut the population of wild horses from 6,000 to 600

Ninety per cent of the Snowy Mountains brumbies would be culled over the next two decades, under a plan released by the New South Wales government.

The draft wild horse management plan for Kosciuszko national park aims to cut the population of wild horses in the park from 6,000 to about 3,000 in the next five to 10 years.

The population would be dramatically slashed to just 600 within 20 years, confining the wild horses to three locations inside the national park.

Current numbers of wild horses were unsustainable and the animals were damaging the park’s fragile alpine and subalpine landscapes, the NSW environment minister, Mark Speakman, said.

Releasing the controversial draft plan on Sunday, Speakman acknowledged wild horse management was an “emotive and complex” issue.

“There are diverse opinions in the community and often deeply held views which polarise stakeholder groups,” Speakman said.

“It is clear, however, that the broader community values the unique environmental values of Kosciuszko national park and looks to NPWS [National Parks and Wildlife Service] to protect these values.”

Possible measures to slash the population include trapping, ground shooting, fertility control, rehoming and mustering.

Aerial shooting, brumby running and roping have been ruled out.

Feedback on the plan will be taken until 6 July.

source: theguardian.com