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March 29, 2024

Local walkers protest feral horses at the top of Mt Kosciuszko

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Wild brumbies at Mt Kosciuszko National Park. Photo Judith Deland via ABC.

Highlighting the problems faced in Mt Kosciuszko National Park as the brumbies run wild Steve and Barbara Millard, with four other members of the Northern Rivers Bushwalkers’ Club, will walk from the Cobberas Wilderness in Eastern Victoria to the summit of Mt Kosciuszko.

Scientists have fenced off this experimental plot to show how the damage caused by feral horses can be reversed. This photo was taken by Steve last year at Cowombat Flat. This stream is the source of the Murray River. Photo supplied.

They are protesting against the NSW Government’s recent legislation to protect feral horses in National Parks in preference to many endangered native species whose habitat is being destroyed by the growing numbers of feral horses.

‘Feral horses are a problem in our region as well as Kosciuszko,’ Steve commented.

‘They are in numbers along the Yuragir coast between Yamba and Coff’s Harbour, as well as in the Guy Fawkes River valley that runs between Armidale and Grafton.’

The group of six have been doing preliminary walks in the Byron hinterland in preparation and will be meeting up with other Save Kosci walkers on the summit on Saturday December 8. They will meet at from Charlotte Pass before making their final ascent.

‘Club members are happy to see horses being looked after in the 90 per cent of Australia that is not in National Parks, but feel the horses should not be allowed to force native plants and animals, such as the Corroboree Frog, into extinction by destruction of fragile habitats,’ said Steve.


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8 COMMENTS

  1. Very sad to say
    If the horses don’t belong there Neither does the cattle and especially the wakers that leave their trash and toilet behind.
    Humans are filthy things in the Enviourement so Just don’t Blame the Horses Blame The people that run Cattle there also.

  2. Fantastic effort guys. Keep it up…. Just a correction for the Echo – I believe its Steve Millard and Dr Barbara Stewart!! 🙂

  3. Fantastic effort. Feral animals don’t belong in our natural heritage areas. Properly fund national parks so feral animal control can be done with the utmost efficiency. The horses are the proven major problem in the areas they occur and their eradication should be a priority.

  4. Feral horses, wild or just horses, don’t belong in Koscuisko national park. The horses have no natural adaptation to the ground which soon erodes under their hard hoofs. The horses weaken and starve as over population pressures such as land degradation make it an inhospitable environment for them and with nowhere to retreat to, or nobody to feed them, as down below is fenced off and out of bounds, they are perpetually in very poor condition indeed. If you are a friend of horses help get them out of the park for good. You wouldn’t leave your pet dog in the park so why leave a horse there! Horses are domesticated beasts. Give our native species a chance to survive.

  5. Since you are all such experts on saving the park, maybe you should do something about the feral cats, goats, pigs, foxes, rabbits, wild dogs and wild deer. They are all affecting the park as well, in particular wild pigs who make huge mud wallows and degrade the ground far worse than any brumby. You all want to blame the horses cause they are bigger but that is not fair either, they are part of our heritage and deserve a place to live in peace.

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