78 Australian GeographicThe NPWS believes that the hard-footed beasts have an impact
on the sensitive alpine and subalpine environments where nation-
ally threatened sphagnum moss bogs support delicate creatures
such as the she-oak skink and corroboree frog. There is also
concern about the horses’ role in degrading water sources, spread-
ing weeds and compacting soils in spots where they congregate
in the park’s north-east and south. If they move onto the Main
Range, 17 endemic species are potentially at risk.
“Horses are a majestic, beautiful animal in the right place,” says
ranger Rob Gibbs, who is overseeing the review of Kosciuszko’s
wild horse management plan. “But a lot of time and taxpayers’
money is being spent trying to manage them. There are simply
too many horses causing too much damage.”
As both NSW and Victoria have sought to develop management
strategies for public lands, the battle between conservationists and
brumby defenders in recent years has at times degenerated into
accusations and threats. Public surveys have illustrated the full
breadth of views – from those
who see wild horses as creatures
of “mass disturbance” to those
who regard them as “a triumph
of nature” and a sacred link to
a cherished heritage.
Rob believes that wild horse
management is “tangled up
with the dispossession and lin-
gering resentment that cattlemen feel about losing their High
Country grazing leases”. Peter Cochrane contests that the horses
didn’t “begin to explode” until wilderness areas were declared.
Ironically, a 2013 report on the impact of horses in the Australian
Alps concluded that their damage was “as bad as the worst historic
grazing impacts to the high mountain catchments that triggered
the 1940s removal of stock grazing from Kosciuszko National
Park”. Horses have cultural, social and tourism value, but people
have to realise “that value comes at a cost”, says Rob. “These
ecosystems simply didn’t evolve with large, hard-hoofed animals.
But it’s very difficult for native animals and ecosystems to compete
with the romanticism of The Man from Snowy River.”O
N ONE THING most people do agree. Australia’s wild
horse population needs to be reined in – especially in
the more heavily populated and politically sensitive
south-east. The question is how and by how much. Seasonal
‘passive trapping’ in national parks in NSW and Victoria, whereby
horses are lured into trap yards with food and then trucked out,
is both expensive (costing about $1000 per horse) and labour
intensive. It is also limited to more accessible areas.
About one-third of the horses trapped are“It’s difficult for...ecosystems to
compete with the romanticism
of The Man from Snowy River.”
Life is good for the grey roans
of Kosciuszko (top), with
plentiful feed and water in
reach, but the deserts of the
Red Centre (bottom) challenge
even the toughest wild horses.Continued page 83