2023-10-27 07:13:00
Australian local authorities approved on Friday the resumption of the slaughter of wild horses in one of the country’s largest national parks, a measure deemed necessary to protect fauna and flora but which also risks causing controversy.
Around 19,000 wild horses, called ‘brumbies’ in Australia, live in Kosciuszko National Park, in the south-east of the country. New South Wales state authorities want to reduce this number to 3,000 by mid-2027.
Park officials already eliminate wild horses on the ground with guns or traps, or transfer them elsewhere. But according to New South Wales Environment Minister Penny Sharpe, these measures are no longer enough.
‘Native species are on the verge of extinction and the entire ecosystem is threatened’ because of the excessive number of wild horses, said the minister. ‘We have to act’.
Brumbies are considered by authorities to be harmful animals because they increase soil erosion, kill vegetation by grazing or trampling it. They also cause burrows to collapse, compete with other animals for food and shelter and also make water sources unsanitary.
‘It was not an easy decision to make, no one would want to kill wild horses,’ Ms Sharpe assured.
National identity
The helicopter slaughter method had already been briefly used in 2000. More than 600 wild horses were killed in three days.
But local authorities then backed down in the face of public outrage.
Opponents of the cull claim horses are part of Australia’s national identity.
Brumbies were celebrated by the iconic bush poet Banjo Paterson (1864-1941), known for his romantic glorification of rural Australia. A rugby union team from the Australian capital Canberra is also called the ‘Brumbies’.
Australia has up to 400,000 wild horses, according to the Invasive Species Council, an Australian NGO which welcomed the decision of the State of New South Wales on Friday.
The number of brumbies in this Australian state is currently increasing by 15% to 18% per year, much more than the number of horses eliminated by current eradication methods, noted Jack Gough, a spokesperson for this NGO.
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