Chapter 4Advocate views of feral horses
Overview
4.1During the course of the inquiry, advocates of feral horses set out a number of arguments for their retention in national parks.
4.2Advocate views on population estimates are set out in Chapter 2.
Purported benefits of feral horses
4.3Advocates for retaining feral horses in the Australian Alps were of the view that feral horses ‘should be treated differently to other introduced animals’ and managed as horses by horsemen, as they hold cultural and symbolic significance to some parts of the community.
4.4Advocates for retaining feral horses argued that the presence of feral horses is beneficial for the environment by spreading seeds and nutrient-rich dung across the Alps, which was said to feed the plants and animals in the area.
4.5Other purported benefits of the presence of feral horses in the Alps included: removal of flammable vegetation by grazing, which could prevent bushfires; addition of moist dung to the environment which provides moisture to the air; detection of water which other animals can then access; the creation of natural water catchments through wallowing, which could be used by tadpoles; and, the creation of pathways through forest which could be used by kangaroos.
4.6The Snowy Mountains Horse Riders Association contended that feral horses should be considered part of the national park:
The park was declared 150 years after the introduction of brumbies. The brumbies were a part of the park at the time and therefore a part of the deal.
4.7Advocates for retaining feral horses in the Australian Alps National Parks and Reserves considered that there were ecological, social and economic benefits to their retention in a National Heritage listed place. For example, the Snowy Mountains Horse Riders Association set out the following:
Ecological Restoration: Large herbivores, such as horses when managed, can play a critical role in restoring degraded ecosystems. They can help control plant species and promote the growth of native grasses and vegetation by selectively grazing on certain plants and facilitating seed dispersal and nutrient cycling through their dung and urine…
Ecosystem Resilience: Horses can enhance the resilience of ecosystems to disturbances, such as fire and drought. For example, their selective grazing of coarse grasses and woody plants help reduce fuel loads and alter fuel continuity, potentially reducing the intensity and spread of wildfires…
Carbon Sequestration: Large herbivores can play a role in carbon sequestration, which is the process of removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and storing it in vegetation and soils. By promoting the growth of native vegetation, large herbivores can contribute to carbon sequestration, which can help mitigate climate change.
Ecotourism and Cultural Heritage Values: Brumbies can also have socio-economic benefits, such as supporting ecotourism opportunities and cultural heritage values. Brumbies are iconic species that are valued by the community and tourists alike for their cultural significance, recreational viewing opportunities, and potential mental health and economic benefits.
4.8Wild Horses Kimberly Inc. expanded on the claim that the undecomposed seeds of native plants are dispersed by feral horse dung, stating that these plant species are able to proliferate over a more ‘extensive geographical area than [they] would were it not for the [feral horses].’
4.9Wild Horses Kimberly Inc. also contended that horses provide natural fire management by forming firebreaks when they travel in a line as a herd, and by reducing the fuel load of areas that they graze on.
4.10The views of horse advocates were elaborated on at the public hearing. MsMarilyn Nuske stated that ‘they are a special class of an introduced species that have had a special relationship with the people who first settled this country, and with animals with which they have been living in the Australian alpine park’.
4.11Ms Nuske considered that feral horses should be given ‘special consideration’. Mr Dean Marsland argued that the impact of feral horses should take into account benefits:
…there will be negative connotation, 'It's a manure pile.' A positive connotation is that it's fertiliser, roughage and fibre going back into the topsoil, which enriches the topsoil to support our native vegetation, which then supports our native wildlife. The dung piles encourage insects which again feed frogs and lizards because they carry the manure deeper into the soils. Why have we got into this realm where people will always look at the negative connotation of words like 'impact' and ignore all the positive impacts these horses actually have on that environment? I see time and time again symbiotic relationships between our brumbies and the environments they live in.
4.12Ms Jill Pickering from the Australian Brumby Alliance argued that her organisation supports management but not eradication of feral horses:
They [feral horses] can be negative, but it's the proportion of the species that's there. Too many humans would be disastrous. That's why we certainly don't support leaving them unmanaged. We expect them to be managed but not managed to extinction, which is the current interpretation of 'management'. Managed to sustainable levels.
4.13Dr David Berman, who was cited by several horse advocates in submissions and a public hearing as an authority on the ecological impacts of feral horses, asserted that ‘feral horses must not be protected at the expense of other values of the [Kosciusko National Park]’ under the Wild Horse Heritage Act 2018 (NSW). DrBerman further argued that insufficient funding has been allocated to studying how horses influence their environment, leading to a paucity of evidence on negative and potential positive impacts on native flora and fauna, soil and water. He claims more work needs to be done to ensure that assessments of the impact of feral horses on other natural values protected under NSW legislation are accurate, and the appropriate horse management actions are taken.
4.14In arguing that that there is a lack of evidence that feral horses negatively impact other natural values, Dr Berman stated that the findings of studies that show negative correlations between feral horse activity and endangered animal activity could be explained by confounding factors or alternative causes, such as differing habitat preferences.
4.15The methods of feral horse population control most commonly proposed by horse advocates were rehoming and fertility control. These methods are discussed in Chapter 5 of this report.
Feral horses in Australia’s cultural history
4.16Advocates for feral horses drew attention to references to their presence in Australia’s written and oral culture since the 1800s. Herds of feral horses appeared in the Australian alpine region after colonisation, as horses were either abandoned or escaped into the area. Escape was a common occurrence, as the pastoralists of early colonial Australia usually grazed stock on unfenced land.
4.17These horses have garnered a range of social and cultural associations, which have changed over time. In the mid-19th century, feral horses were viewed by many settler farmers as a pest in need of eradication. In an article titled ‘the Horse Question’ published in the Queanbeyan Age in 1870, a veterinary surgeon wrote that there were ‘no two opinions’ regarding the management of feral horses, ‘except about the easiest way of extinguishing them’.
4.18The 1890 poem ‘The Man from Snowy River’ by A.B. ‘Banjo’ Paterson gave a cultural importance to the Australian alpine region, portraying what remained of the free-ranging pastoralism that dominated an earlier period of Australian settlement. Central to this portrayal is the man from Snowy River’s pursuit of ‘wild bush horses’ over mountainous terrain.
4.19Banjo Paterson, a mob of feral horses being pursued by a horseman, and an excerpt from the Man from Snowy River appear on the $10 banknote introduced in 1993.
4.20Horse advocacy groups claim that many feral horses were captured and drafted for service as light horse mounts in WWI. However, military records indicate that the Australian Imperial Forces only recruited horses from professional breeders, and that these horses were destroyed or transferred to the Syrian and Egyptian imperial authorities after the war.
4.21The opening ceremony of the 2000 Olympic games in Sydney was opened with a procession of 120 stock horses. The horses were ridden into the stadium to the music from the 1982 film adaption of The Man from Snowy River.
Committee comment
4.22The committee acknowledges the views held by feral horse advocates about their presence in the Australian Alps. Many submissions, and evidence provided at a public hearing, related the deep connection felt with horses in the Alpine region, and in particular, in Kosciuszko National Park.
4.23Feral horses have been present in the Alpine region since their initial introduction in the 19th century, and many families and communities have strong memories associated with their presence.
4.24While horses are associated with more recent Australian culture such as Banjo Paterson and the Sydney Olympics, they are not part of the Australian natural environment, which is protected through our designation of national parks and nature reserves.
4.25Horses are not confined to living in the Australian Alps National Parks and Reserves, and as set out in Chapter 2, are able to survive in a variety of Australian landscapes. Critically endangered native species, however, do require the rare Alpine environment, having evolved over millions of years to survive there.
4.26As made clear by strong scientific evidence, the committee understands that feral horses have a negative impact on the Australian Alps National Park and Reserves and the native species that live within it.
4.27Further committee comments and recommendations are made in Chapter 7.