Australian Brumby

A call to cull the wild horses roaming wild in an Australian National Park has incensed animal lovers and charities. But National Park authorities claim their numbers are threatening the environment.

Our reporter Li Dong has the details.

The Wild Australian horses, typical known as 'Brumbies' are believed to be descended from the first few wild ponies that were brought to Australia by European settlers in the late 18th century. Only the fittest and strongest survived the long sea journey, meaning Australian brumbies come from sturdy stock.

By the 1830s significant numbers had escaped or been released into the wild to fend for themselves.

Now authorities say the herd in Kosciusko National Park, located 500 kilometers from Sydney, has grown significantly.

Steve Horsley has been overseeing the herd management program within the park for more than ten years.

He believes the illegal dumping of domestic horses into the conservation reserve is adding to brumby numbers. Because the mares in the park are foaling on a regular basis, Horsley says an estimated 4,200 horses now inhabit the area:

"We have had an independent scientist do population estimates across the Australian Alps. The population has increased at almost a maximum rate of 20 per cent per annum."

Catherine Carney is a member of the Snowy Mountains Bush Users Group. She disagrees with claims that herd numbers are rising:

"We are a group of people that spends a lot of time in the park. We ride and we watch and we look and we just don't see as many horses as we used to."

The National Parks and Wildlife Service (or NPWS) claims there have been more than 20 road accidents involving brumbies and vehicles over the last five years.

Wild horses share the landscape with the critically endangered corroboree frog and threatened broad-toothed rat. The NPWS says the alpine environment is extremely sensitive and that eroded waterways won't recover unless horse numbers are reduced.

Park rangers use a mix of hay, salt and molasses to lure wild horses into yards. Once destined for the knacker's yard, they now argue that brumbies have a variety of uses, such as stock horses or as ponies for children.

Catherine Carney opposes efforts to trap them out of concern for the welfare of the animals.

"There is no good way to trap or to collect a wild horse. Trapping is inevitably going to put more than one group of horses together in a very small space and they will fight. And as a result they will damage each other."

The National Parks and Wildlife Service or NPWS has called for people to express an interest in acquiring some of the hundreds of brumbies that have already been trapped. But finding willing families or stockmen can be difficult for those horses that are inbred or beyond retraining.

Despite these concerns, the New South Wales National Parks Service plans to trial brumby mustering using helicopters. The aircraft would assist rangers on horseback to drive a mob of horses into a trapping pen.

The brumby trapping and mustering program at Kosciusko will be reviewed in two years time.

For CRI, I am Li Dong.