Around 19,000 wild Australian horses, known as “brumbies,” live in Kosciuszko National Park, and this number has increased by a third in the last two years.

The authorities in New South Wales want to reduce the horse population to 3,000 by the middle of 2027.

Currently, the national park captures, relocates, and shoots Australian horses from the ground. However, the state’s environment minister, Penny Sharpe, believes this is not enough. She says that native species are at risk of extinction, and the entire ecosystem is in danger. So, they’ve decided to take action, even though it’s a difficult decision that no one wants to make.

In the past, they used helicopters to shoot wild horses in 2000, resulting in the shooting of over 600 horses in three days. But this method was banned due to strong public opposition.

Some people believe that wild Australian horses are an important part of Australia’s history and identity, reminding them of the days when tough ranchers worked in the rugged Snowy Mountains. Brumbies are thought to have descended from horses that escaped or were abandoned in the early 1800s. There’s even a famous rugby team named after them in the capital city, Canberra.

However, early farmers saw these horses as pests that damaged fences and competed with their livestock for food. Conservationists argue that wild horses harm the environment by destroying native plants through grazing, causing soil erosion, and impacting wildlife habitats.

According to the Invasive Species Council, Australia has up to 400,000 feral Australian horses, and they support the decision to resume aerial shooting. The brumby population in New South Wales is growing at a rate of 15 to 18 percent each year, which is higher than the number being removed by current methods.

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