Barmah forest, one of the largest red gum forests in the world, holds 38 rare or threatened plants, including fruit saltbush and winged peppergrass.
Photo by
Rodney Braithwaite
“Feral horses are being removed from parks through targeted ground-shooting by professionals under strict protocols and oversight, and trapping and rehoming, where feasible, safe and humane to do so, and where there has been sufficient demand from organisations or individuals that can suitably care for the captured horses.”
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This, in a nutshell, is Parks Victoria’s position on the wild horses in Barmah National Park.
The department has based the position on some science and some convenience.
Firstly, the science.
This is the damage that wild horses can do (from the Parks Victoria website):
Grazing and browsing — they consume native plants and destroy the habitat of native wildlife.
Pugging and streambank collapse — they compact soil, increase erosion, cause wet areas to dry out and degrade waterways.
Impacting water quality — they remove vegetation, reduce water filtering, cause muddier water and harm native aquatic species.
Creating trackways — they increase erosion and spread weeds and diseases.
Trampling and opening bare ground — they harm soil and plant growth.
Producing dung piles — that suffocate native plants and helps weed dispersal.
Spreading weeds — that displace native plants.
Competing for habitat and food — native animals suffer from damaged habitat and less available food.
Impacting visitor experience — while some visitors seek or enjoy seeing horses in the [park], the presence of feral horses can conflict with other visitors’ expectations of a natural environment and the key features of national parks.
Parks Victoria attempting to trap brumbies in Barmah.
As for the second part of the opening statement — rehoming or shooting — the numbers come down on the shooting.
Park Victoria says close to 700 horses were ‘removed’ from the park over three years. About 600 were recorded shot.
Parks Victoria says over this period, 39 trapped horses were refused by rehomers as they did not fit their preference for age or gender and had to be released back to the park, as the only safe and humane option under the circumstances.
The Barmah Brumby Preservation Group contests this approach and says many more could have been saved if they had been invited to participate.
Experience in other parks around the state have suggested to Parks Victoria that trapping is time consuming, risky and expensive.
However, some members of the public have managed to ‘rescue’ brumbies from the bush without the expense.
Parks Victoria has promised to work with the preservation group, but the group contests that this is happening
“To enable successful rehoming to occur, Parks Victoria will build cooperative partnerships with groups or individuals that have an interest and appropriate skills in rehoming captured horses and can comply with relevant standards for animal welfare,” Parks Victoria says on its website.
There is another puzzling phenomenon occurring with the brumby cull which, at first sight, is curious.
Parks Victoria doesn’t close the park when shooting is taking place. An unsafe practice that State Member for Northern Victoria Georgie Purcell has remarked may not end well.
Country News believes Parks Victoria has decided not to close the park when contract shooting is taking place because this would alert the local community.
This represents the level of relationships between Parks Victoria and local people.
There is a reference to this in Freedom of Information documents released to Country News, and which Parks Victoria did not want to talk about.
“If released, certain information in these operational plans could endanger the life or physical safety of Parks Victoria AOs [authorised officers], the FOI documents say.
“Due to the coercive and highly sensitive nature of these enforcement actions, Parks Victoria rely on the support from Victoria Police for enforcement related assistance and operational planning.
“If the material contained in these operational plans were to be released to the public, this information could then pose a serious threat to Parks Victoria AOs and police officers involved in these enforcement and operational activities.
“Parks Victoria is of the belief that there is a real chance of harm occurring, specifically since certain members of the public have in the past been physically violent in response to these operations and are already known to Victoria Police.”
This is the third in a series of stories about the end of the iconic Barmah brumbies.
Signs on fences around Barmah township indicate the relationship between local people and the Victorian Government.
