Federal Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek has flagged that the federal government may intervene to ensure a zero-tolerance approach to feral horses Kosciuszko National Park if the environmental impacts remain too high.
The warning to the NSW Government is contained in the Albanese Government’s response to the Senate inquiry into the impacts and management of feral horses in the Australian Alps, which has just been released.
Minister Plibersek says that if the current plan to reduce feral horse numbers to 3,000 by 2027 turns out to be ‘insufficient to avoid further irreversible damage’ then the Australian Government would seek a further reduction and would ‘support a zero-tolerance approach, such as that currently employed by the ACT’.
The most recent government survey of feral horse numbers found there are currently about 17,432 feral horses in Kosciuszko National Park.
Jack Gough, Invasive Species Council Advocacy Director, says “This is an important invention from Minister Plibersek. We have always known that the 3,000 target was just an arbitrary number that reflected a political deal between the Liberal and National parties in NSW.”
“Of course, just getting down to 3,000 will take dedicated and consistent effort. We are very pleased that the Minns Government is so focussed and committed to achieving this current target by 2027, as required by law in NSW.
“‘No one likes to see animals killed, but the sad reality is that we have a choice to make between urgently reducing the numbers of feral horses or accepting the destruction of sensitive alpine ecosystems and habitats, and the decline and extinction of native animals.