They shoot horses, don't they?

Brumby advocates are calling for ground and aerial shooting of Victorian brumbies to be abandoned in favour of more measured and kinder ways of managing populations of wild living horses in national parks. 

World disgrace and condemnation followed the inhumane execution of brumbies by aerial culling in NSW in October 2000. The cull led to a ban on aerial shooting of horses in all NSW National Parks because of the cruel and inhumane deaths of brumbies.

Ground shooting is just as cruel allege brumby advocates who speak of horses bolting at the first shot many receiving multiple gun shots to the guts in the confusion and lingering for several painful days or foals being trampled in the stampede.

The Andrews Government's recent release of the "draft feral horse action Plan 2021"  is calling for up to 560 brumbies to be slaughtered this year either by ground or aerial shooting.

Brumby advocates argue both are cruel and inhumane and must not proceed. 

Advocates argue brumbies have lived in the Victorian Alpine Park and Bogong High Plains for over two centuries, living in co-existence with other wildlife.

"Brumbies are part of Australia's cultural and social heritage and ought be retained in heritage National Parks in sustainable managed mobs, preferably with legislation for their long term protection."

Brumby advocates have a rally planned to take place in Barmah on 24 April 2021 to coincide with the local Barmah Muster with Wendy Lovell MP to address the rally and a date yet to be set for a Melbourne rally to deliver a petition with over 166,000 signatures of people who oppose brumby shooting to the Minister for Environment Lily D'Ambrosio. 

What do you think should be done to manage wild brumbies in national parks? Do you support culling or is another solution possible?

13 comments

I don't support culling at all.  It's always man's way to eradicate something in his way, wanting perfection, wanting land for fossil fuels, wanting it real seate or industry.

How damn stupid. I can cite one case of total stupidity. In a town I know very well near a slat water lake had massive hoop pines growing along the road to the lake. Next visit they were all gone. I found out later they were removed because they don't grow in this area??? Were you around well over 100 years ago when these were youngsters? Obviously not. Just because there was only this pocket of them, does not mean they never grew here. Its just that its now surrounded by wheat farms and they would have had them cleared for the crop.

Quite franky the only thing that needs culling are humans who overbreed and do the most damage to the planet.

I find it interesting that the save the koala, save the bilby, save the manning river turtle, save the Tasmanian devil etc, etc, etc groups ignore the need to get rid of feral pests that are taking over the habitat, or killing of Australian native animals. There are groups which want to preserve feral introduced species such as horses, cats, dogs, pigs, camels, buffalo, foxes and rabbits. As far as I'm concerned, getting rid of feral animals should be a priority and if shooting them is an option then bring in professional shooters who can do the job efficiently and effectively.

There are plenty worse pests than brumbies that should be exterminated, not just culled. Like feral pigs, cats, camels, goats, donkeys, buffalo, red foxes, rabbits, red deer & the list goes on.

Horrible horrible...to cull these beautiful creatures. It makes me sick to my stomach.

It went awfully damn quite when some party (not Govt) had hard lined facts that is was NOT the brumby's doing the damage but the bloody cattle. Aw crap can't state that, we dont want to cull the cows/cattle off the snowy. Facts are facts when they have been openly stated, and then slammed shut. No 2 guesses who did that!

Can you tell me where cattle are grazing legally  on the Snowies?

Here is an extract from an article published by the University of Melbourne:

 

 

The Australian high country is a massive area that begins in southern NSW and extends deep into Victoria. The majority of this area is made up of the Kosciuszko, Victorian Alpine and Snowy River national parks.

These are some of the oldest national parks in Australia and are on a very short list of destinations that boast subalpine treeless flats and valleys. 204 species of flowering plants put their roots down here, with 33 of them considered rare and 21 only being found in the icy soil of the high country.

The mountain pygmy possum, southern corroboree frog and 13 other threatened or vulnerable species call these mountains home not to mention the vital peatland soils, bog and wetland catchments.

Covered in snow for a third of the year, plants that serve as food for the native critters are slow to grow and so are very susceptible to land degradation.

Anyone who’s visited these endless blue peaks will agree that it’s a landscape like no other and its beauty and fragility is well worth protecting.

Along with deer and feral pigs, horses are a large hard-hooved introduced species that trample everything they come across. This trampling leads to erosion, waterway degradation and the destruction of wetlands and delicate scrub.

Weeds have infiltrated the highlands and currently have its fragile ecosystems in their tendrilled grip. Wild horses speed up their spread throughout the grassy hills and valleys as their seeds are carried in their mane, tail and, of course, their poop.

As the brumbies make their way to the alpine creeks and streams they disturb the delicate soil structure that surrounds these waterways. The disruptions cause habitat loss for many small native reptiles and mammals such the alpine water skink and broad-toothed rat.

 

As the mobs of brumbies make their way, happily pooping and trampling across the mountains, they foul waterways with their excrement which can lead to the spread of cryptosporidium and diseases such as equine influenza, African horse sickness and tick fever. These diseases are devastating for both humans and animal.

The impact they’re having on an ecosystem that is incredibly slow to regenerate is inexcusable. So, in the debate of thundering hooves I finally fall in the camp of environmentalism. Maybe the NSW government can follow my path of realisation and value our pristine wilderness over man-made sentiment.

Your statement is so full of holes. This is just environmental nonsense. The brumbies have been living in the alps for nearly 2 centuries but now, all of a sudden, they are causing all this so called damage. The photos of damage these environmentalists take are 'assumed" to be caused by the brumbies. I have photos taken too in the alps and they are of deep gouges churned up by 4WD's. It appears this is ok according to Vic Parks. There seems to be a hidden agenda for wanting the brumbies removed and it has nothing to do with the environment. In this day and age, cruelty like this is unbelievably draconian and unacceptable. If any readers would like to stop this inhumane slaughter, you can fill out the survey on the "draft feral horse action Plan 2021" on the Vic government website. The more responses, the more chance we have of saving our treasured brumbies. 

 

After reading the extract from Melbourne uni I wish to point out that African horse sickness is not in Australia, tick fever is in the northern part of Australia  and there has been no cases of Equine influenza since the outbreak a few years ago in Nsw ,as for cryptosporidium it is also in the poo of other animals and humans 

Not only cattle (hard hoofed) but darn pigs who tear up the soil with their snouts when looking for roots etc to eat.

Get rid of those two and we may get it back to it normal.

But then I am not holding out for a miracle as I am anti Victorian now. After the last year I have seen how mentally defective they really are. All cashed up, wont be told to isolate, want my bloody parties, want to go out, and on and on. NSW may well have released the virus into Australia via the Ruby Princess Ocean Liner, but Victoria had to be the one who kept it going. Between the 2 Premiers, they have to go down in history as being two of the most useless people on the planet - about as helpful as hip pockets on a singlet. If anyone believes these two did right, then the public of both states have shown a massive disrespect and insult when they failed to follow the Premier's rules and not to go AWOL interstate to make sure they spread their so called "LOVE" around.

That's my opinion and of many others on private Forums I belong (not this type of forum as on YLC) but they are more verbally savage against both States for not doing the right thing and checking all those who came off the boat in the first place, and of the spoilt rich brats in Victoria who have never obeyed their parents when young, so why start now. This is a toned down version of what is being posted, because the words on those pages would ignite here.

There are no cattle up there.

I mentioned cattle as the above poster mentioned hard hoofed, and yes there some cattle there as my family has some stock roaming the snowies.

I am with you Tood,  humans are the scourge of this beautiful planet!

My husband Phil Maguire successfully sued Parks Victoria last year to stop the proposed shooting with the aid of donations from Rural Resistance members and others via a Gofundme. We are still fundraising to clear our remaining personal 28k debt.
Submissions for the next draft management plan close on 23rd April and I urge people to participate. They propose to use ground and aerial shooting. Both totally unacceptable and impossible to be executed without cruelty.

https://engage.vic.gov.au/alpine-feral-horse-action-plan

We can help, you can contact us on Mewe. ( Rural Resistance) Or my fb page Louise Maguire, message me. Fb has a habit of banning me.

There has never been a properly conducted count, either in KNP or Victoria. The scientific method used is flawed to put it mildly. 
The damage attributed to brumbies has never been proven to have been caused by them, rather than by  pigs or deer, which outnumber horses by about 500 to 1.
The ‘science’ used to discredit brumbies is better described as scientism. ( look it up). 
On the Bogongs there are only about 80 brumbies left. Direct descendants of the horses that went to war. ( they were bred with ore gelding).
Should they be managed? Certainly, after we know how many there are. But just as certainly, not by shooting them. 
And there is absolutely no need to eradicate them.
There are NO species of flora or fauna that have been scientifically proven to have been harmed by the presence of brumbies. 

My husband Phil Maguire successfully sued Parks Victoria last year to stop the proposed shooting with the aid of donations from Rural Resistance members and others via a Gofundme. We are still fundraising to clear our remaining personal 28k debt.
Submissions for the next draft management plan close on 23rd April and I urge people to participate. They propose to use ground and aerial shooting. Both totally unacceptable and impossible to be executed without cruelty.

https://engage.vic.gov.au/alpine-feral-horse-action-plan

We can help, you can contact us on Mewe. ( Rural Resistance) Or my fb page Louise Maguire, message me. Fb has a habit of banning me.

There has never been a properly conducted count, either in KNP or Victoria. The scientific method used is flawed to put it mildly. 
The damage attributed to brumbies has never been proven to have been caused by them, rather than by  pigs or deer, which outnumber horses by about 500 to 1.
The ‘science’ used to discredit brumbies is better described as scientism. ( look it up). 
On the Bogongs there are only about 80 brumbies left. Direct descendants of the horses that went to war. ( they were bred with ore gelding).
Should they be managed? Certainly, after we know how many there are. But just as certainly, not by shooting them. 
And there is absolutely no need to eradicate them.
There are NO species of flora or fauna that have been scientifically proven to have been harmed by the presence of brumbies. 

                                Save the Brumbies Inc | equinenews.com.au

Totally agree. These horse went to war for us in WWI with the Light Horse Brigade.

They ploughed fields for us, planted crops, carried us to shop for food and goods, took us to doctors, took us to school. No one knows about those things because they were in the lap of luxury with cars, city life and all of the modern conveniences at the time.

AND THIS IS HOW WE REWARD THEM!

Yes, I am for the Horses ---- they helped us -- let us help them!

13 comments



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