The plan to restart horse trapping and rehoming was revealed by the NSW government on Monday when announcing the appointment of a community advisory panel under the highly controversial Kosciuszko Wild Horse Heritage Act.

There has been no feral horse trapping in the park since August 2017 despite the destruction of Kosciuszko National Park from feral horses and the growing risk to motorists and campers.

“However, the latest plan is too little too late. Trapping and rehoming on its own will not stop the horse population from growing. The NSW Government needs to urgently remove large numbers of horses.

“Prior to the March state election, deputy premier Barilaro promised an ‘immediate’ 50% reduction of horse numbers in the park. We are still waiting.

“Trapping and transporting horses to abattoirs is recognised by animal welfare experts as one of the most humane population control methods available where transport is over short distances. Other options which meet animal welfare standards will also need to be deployed to reduce horse numbers.

“Re-homing a small number of feral horses from Kosciuszko National Park as the only control option is doomed to failure. It cannot keep pace with feral horses breeding up in the park.”

The Invasive Species Council joined leading conservation groups in November last year in calling for a boycott of the NSW Government’s call for nominations for the Wild Horse Community Advisory Panel. The groups warned the panel would value introduced feral horses over the best interests of Kosciuszko National Park and its native wildlife.

The post Kosciuszko re-homing plans will barely dint feral horse crisis appeared first on Reclaim Kosci.

In an extraordinary outburst, John Barilaro yelled at the packed public gallery audience, attacking Reclaim Kosci campaign supporters and indigenous Snowy Mountains local and Invasive Species Council Ambassador volunteer Richard Swain.

In a wildly inaccurate attack he stated “It is clear that in the general election the issue of the repeal of the brumby bill was perpetrated and campaigned on by people such as Richard Swain and a group from inner‑city Sydney, Reclaim Kosci, that were paid to campaign against me.”

Whilst the Liberal government did not support the petition, environment minister Matt Kean took a strong stance, stating, “One of the biggest threats to our national parks is feral pests: feral cats, feral dogs, feral rabbits, and let us call them for what they are, not brumbies, feral horses.”

Andrew Cox, CEO of the Invasive Species Council said, “The escalating war between Minister Kean and the Deputy Premier over protecting the environment was on public display.”

“This time Barilaro got his way and used government’s majority to vote against the petition being ‘noted’.”

This was a snub to the 12,300 petitioners, including the 1,013 people who signed the petition that lived in John Barilaro’s Monaro electorate.

Read the full debate here >>

Labor’s Trish Doyle, who introduced the petition, and Kate Washington, along with Helen Dalton from Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party, attacked government mismanagement of water catchments, the lack of action on feral horses and the resulting destruction of threatened species habitat.

Prior to the debate, a powerful coalition of farmers, scientists, retired park managers, skiers, bushwalkers, students and teachers rallied in Hyde Park, urging the NSW Government to take immediate action on feral horses. They were concerned about the effect of sky-rocketing horse numbers on the critically endangered animals and plants living in the park, and the lack of an effective plan to address the problem.

Reclaim Kosci petition organiser Linda Groom and a team of other volunteers spent months tirelessly manning stalls around NSW, gaining hand-written signatures for the petition.

The 12,300 signature petition demanded a repeal of the controversial Kosciuszko Wild Horse Heritage Act, to implement effective horse control measures and to repair waterways impacted by feral horses.

Ms Groom said, “I think it is significant that over 12,300 people thought about this issue carefully and were willing to sign a petition that includes lethal culling as one method of managing the horse damage in Kosciuszko National Park.

“The people who signed the petition had the courage to make a difficult decision – the right decision to protect Kosciuszko’s animals and plants. And yet the NSW government, after campaigning with the slogan ‘getting the job done’ seems unable to take any action.

“We need to protect our park and manage these feral horses. What is it going to take for the NSW Government to understand this issue needs to be addressed?”

Scientist Professor David Watson, who resigned from the NSW Government’s Threatened Species Scientific Committee after the Kosciuszko Wild Horse Heritage Act was passed by parliament last year said, “Since the day it was introduced into parliament this legislation has been opposed by the Australian Academy of Sciences, the International Union for Conservation of Nature and more than 100 eminent scientists as part of the Kosciuszko Science Accord,

“Protecting a feral animal in a national park is madness.”

Richard Swain has campaigned hard to overturn the Act as coordinator of the community group Reclaim Kosci.

“We know feral animals shouldn’t be protected in a national park,” he said.

“Do we protect rabbits, deer, pigs, goats or other feral animals? No, because common sense prevails and the majority of society understands that these animals harm our native habitat, threatened plants and animals and farmland. Horses are no different.”

“National parks were created to protect the unique natural values of Australia’s wild places and the native plants and animals that rely on them for survival.

“Protecting a feral animal in a national park is an act of environmental vandalism,” said Mr Swain.

The post NSW Parliament petition debate triggers fireworks over inaction on Kosci feral horses appeared first on Reclaim Kosci.

“The number of feral horses roaming the Snowy Mountains Highway on the way to popular family ski resorts is frightening,” said Richard Swain, Reclaim Kosci campaign coordinator and Snowy Mountains local.

“Our freedom of information request has revealed alarming crash statistics involving feral horses in Kosciuszko National Park, grisly photos of dead horses littering the Snowy Mountains Highway and growing anxieties from the people who travel this road for business and to reach the snowfields.

“Lives are on the line and if action is not taken to reduce feral horse numbers in Kosciuszko National Park it will only be a matter of time before we see human fatalities.”

In 2018 Premier Gladys Berejiklian’s government passed a law that protects feral horses in Kosciuszko National Park in a move designed to appease brumby advocates and her deputy premier John Barilaro.

“Families planning a trip to the Selwyn Snow Resort now face the very real possibility of colliding with a feral horse on the Snowy Mountains Highway,” Mr Swain said.

The FOI documents reveal an increase of feral horse collisions averaging five feral horse collisions a year in the Kiandra area alone since trapping ceased in the area. Kiandra is part of Kosciuszko National Park and close to the Selwyn Snow Resort, which is billed as a ‘wonderful destination for a family snow day’.

“The Kiandra area is especially dangerous and we are warning all families driving in the area to slow down and be on high alert for feral horses,” Mr Swain said.

“We have already seen a high number of feral horse collisions on the road to Selwyn Snow Resort, crashes that leave drivers and witnesses traumatised.

“Terrifying collision reports include horses rushing out of the darkness, colliding with cars and smashing headfirst through car windshields.

“The animals are often not dead following a collision, and both the horse and driver are left in distress until assistance arrives, which on these roads can take upwards of an hour.”

The NSW government’s has completely halted feral horse control in Kosciuszko National Park for the past 20 months and the National Parks and Wildlife Service has been unable to implement their own risk management plan to reduce car accidents and injuries on the Snowy Mountains Highway.

The plan used trapping and the removal of feral horses from roadside areas to prevent injuries from road accidents. If implemented, the risk of injury from car collisions with horses on the Snowy Mountains Highway would have been reduced from high to moderate.

“The number of feral horses on the Snowy Mountains Highway is a ticking time bomb,” Mr Swain said.

“With no risk mitigation in over a year and a half, who is going to be responsible when we see the first deaths from car collisions with horses?

“So far we have only had serious vehicle damage and personal injury, but with more and more families expecting to visit the popular Kosciuszko snow fields and the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service unable to control increasing numbers of feral horses in the park, a human fatality is becoming increasingly likely.

“We are calling on the NSW government to commit to drastically reducing feral horse numbers in Kosciuszko National Park, or they will continue to risk the lives of local families and holidaymakers,” Mr Swain said.

“Feral horses on our roads are dangerous and life threatening for everyone involved.”

The post Feral Horse Nightmare A Ticking Time Bomb For NSW Families appeared first on Reclaim Kosci.

In 2019 Kosciuszko National Park celebrates its 75th anniversary. Photo: Rob Blakers

On Friday 19 April 2019 Australia celebrates the 75th anniversary of one of its most cherished and important national parks, Kosciuszko National Park. The challenges faced at the time of its creation from hard-hooved animals were just as great as they are becoming today.

“At a time we should be celebrating Kosciuszko National Park’s 75th anniversary, the area remains mired in a mucky debate about hard-hooved animals,” Reclaim Kosci campaign coordinator Richard Swain said today.

“The park was created in 1944 by visionary Labor Premier Sir William McKell, who was compelled to act after witnessing what he described as ‘one of Australia’s greatest tragedies’ on a 10-day inspection of the damage from unregulated stock grazing.

“With the park’s creation on 19 April 1944, cattle and sheep grazing was removed from the highest peaks and over decades the eroded mountainsides restored. Today Kosciuszko National Park is an incredible natural cathedral that draws more than a million people a year who want to experience its raw beauty.

“Kosciuszko National Park and the Australian Alps catchments help deliver almost a third of the Murray Darling Basin’s annual water yield.

“This National Heritage listed place is home to ancient glacial landscapes and is rich in alpine wildflowers and native animals found nowhere else on Earth. Some of Australia’s most threatened native animals are found in Kosciuszko National Park, including the critically endangered mountain pygmy-possum and southern corroboree frog, the broad-toothed mouse, listed as vulnerable, and the alpine she-oak skink, which only exists in a very small area within the park.

“Australia should be coming together as a nation today to celebrate this extraordinary landscape, but instead we are stuck in a debate that allows feral horse numbers to grow and feral horse damage to continue to trash the park.

“If unresolved, the impacts of feral horses could surpass the disastrous impacts of cattle grazing prior to the park’s formation,” Mr Swain said.

Australian National University protected area specialist Dr Graeme Worboys has celebrated the 75th anniversary in a piece published on John Menadue’s website Pearls and Irritations.

In it he writes:

“The 75th anniversary of the park should have been a celebration of catchment recovery and the benefits of professional conservation management by generations of park managers.

 

“Instead, high mountain wetlands, the headwaters of the Murray, Murrumbidgee and Snowy Rivers and native Australian species habitats are all being impacted by feral horses.”

Reclaim Kosci campaign coordinator Richard Swain said Australia has a clear choice about how it manages Kosciuszko National Park for future generations.

“At this time to mark the formation of one of Australia’s most significant national parks, we have a clear choice.

“Do we allow feral horse damage to spiral out of control and irreparably damage the values of Kosciuszko National Park? Or do our leaders again rise to the occasion and make the decisions that future generations expect them to make?”

Kosciuszko under threat

Kosciuszko National Park is home to many threatened native species and ecological communities likely to suffer from feral horse disturbance.

In late November 2018 the NSW Scientific Committee listed ‘Degradation and loss by Feral Horses (brumbies, wild horses), Equus caballus’ as a key threatening process under the NSW Biodiversity Conservation Act.

At risk are:

• 23 threatened native plant species.
• 11 native animal species.
• 5 ecological communities.

Full list of species at risk >>

More info

• Graeme Worboys marks 75 years of Kosciuszko National Park >>
• Celebrating Kosciusko in pictures >>
• Australia’s own natural cathedral >>

The post Kosciuszko’s 75th anniversary marks another watershed moment in dealing with hooves appeared first on Reclaim Kosci.

Stocky galaxias © State of New South Wales through NSW Department of Industry.

The NSW Berejiklian government’s lack of action to protect a critically endangered native fish from extinction is dangerous, irresponsible and should be condemned.

The last remaining population of critically endangered stocky galaxias is confined to a three-kilometre section of a small stream in Kosciuszko National Park.

Since NSW Deputy Premier John Barilaro’s controversial horse protection act an increasing number of feral horses in the area have all but destroyed the fish’s remaining habitat. The Reclaim Kosci campaign led by the Invasive Species Council is demanding urgent action.

“This critically endangered native fish is at risk of being the first casualty of Barilaro’s deadly Horse Protection Act,” said Richard Swain, Reclaim Kosci campaign coordinator.

“The destruction caused by these feral horses leaves the fish with less food and without viable breeding sites. Without immediate action, the stocky galaxias is in danger of extinction.

“In an extraordinary move, the NSW parks and wildlife service is now considering fencing the horses out of the last of the remaining habitat of these unique native fish, but this is just an expensive band-aid solution to an increasingly urgent issue.

“I’ve spent my whole life in the Snowy Mountains. The sweeping devastation that has been caused by feral horses is distressing. Yet this government has doubled down on endorsing horse destruction of our native wildlife by protecting them. It’s disgraceful.

“Without action to reduce feral horse numbers and save the stocky galaxias we can only conclude that this is a state government that endorses extinction.

“This critically endangered fish is unique to Australia and unique to Kosciuszko. We are calling on the incoming NSW government to take urgent action to repeal the destructive horse protection act and reduce feral horse numbers, or risk the stocky galaxias and more of our native wildlife facing extinction,” Mr Swain said.

Threatened freshwater fish expert, Associate Professor Dr Mark Lintermans from the Institute of Applied Ecology at the University of Canberra, is also calling for urgent action.

“Without direct action, these feral horses will greatly increase the risk of extinction of the critically endangered stocky galaxias,” Dr Lintermans said.

“Increasing feral horse numbers means increasing erosion of stream banks as they cross or stop to drink. The sediment the horses churn up is smothering stocky galaxias feeding habitats and reducing available food.

“The stocky galaxias attaches its eggs to the underside of rocks, and these eggs take 30 to 40 days to hatch in the cold upland environment. When feral horses destroy our riverbanks and churn up the water, the sediment smothers spawning sites and kills their eggs.

“The state government must take urgent action to reduce the impacts from feral horses. This is essential to ensure the survival of the stocky galaxias in its last stronghold.”

The post Has the NSW government put our critically endangered stocky galaxias at risk of extinction? appeared first on Reclaim Kosci.

A freedom of information request has revealed that a 16-year-old boy was hospitalised after being kicked in the shoulder by a feral horse running through a campsite at Long Plain in Kosciuszko National Park last November.

The traumatised boy was visibly distressed, showing signs of shock and openly fearful of feral horses returning to the campsite.

The documents provided in response to the freedom of information request also reveal that the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service is considering closing down the popular Blue Waterholes campground after a spate of incidents involving feral horses in Kosciuszko National Park.

The boy was taken to Cooma hospital after the ordeal.

A national parks and wildlife service risk assessment concluded there is a ‘high risk’ of feral horse related injuries occurring at the popular Blue Waterholes campground in Kosciuszko National Park. Horse incidents resulting in medical treatment and hospitalisation are rated by the parks service as ‘likely’, and single fatalities or serious injury are considered ‘possible’.

The incident occurred just five months after the NSW Government passed legislation that protects feral horses in Kosciuszko National Park under its Kosciuszko Wild Horse Heritage Act.

Less than three weeks before the 16-year-old was hospitalised a younger boy, aged 10, was kicked in the shoulder by a feral horse. The family had to abandon their holiday due to health concerns for their child.

The NSW parks service is receiving an increase in complaints about feral horses, with more than a dozen in the past year coming from visitors to the Blue Waterhole camping area.

There is a large feral horse population that roam the area and observational flights undertaken by the parks service in September 2018 recorded more than 250 horses within a 5km radius of the campground.

The number of feral horses in the area is increasing. Just 124 horses were counted during a similar flight in 2010.

Richard Swain runs tours in the park and also heads up the Reclaim Kosci campaign, which aims to overturn the decision that protects feral horses in Kosciuszko National Park.

“Complaints have included horses walking over the top of campers while they are sleeping in swags, galloping through campgrounds, raiding campers’ belongings and tangling themselves in tent guy ropes,” he said.

“Campers have had to sleep in their vehicles for fear of being trampled. One stallion chased a woman who had to hide in a bush until it left the area. Another incident involved stallions damaging a vehicle while fighting each other.

“When taking customers into Kosciuszko National Park I am constantly on guard for feral horses trampling our tents.

“We have had incidents where clients have had to try and scare off horses in the middle of the night after the horses aggressively stomped around our tents.”

Based on results of an earlier freedom of information request, the number of feral horses observed in northern Kosciuszko, the location of Blue Waterholes campground, has increased year on year from 75 horses in 1998 to 2791 in September 2018.

“We know no trapping has occurred in the northern end of the park for 18 months,” Mr Swain said.

“It is irresponsible and negligent to do nothing in response to this escalating problem. As horse numbers increase it is inevitable that incidents like these will continue to rise, and only a matter of time until someone is seriously injured, or even killed.”

Additional feral horse warning signs and an increased staff presence have been placed at Blue Waterholes campground.

“Feral horses are putting people’s safety at risk,” Mr Swain said.

“It’s time the NSW Government stood up for people and Kosciuszko National Park by overturning its decision to protect these destructive animals and to start rapidly bringing their numbers down.”

The post Feral horse hospitalises teenager camping in Kosciuszko National Park appeared first on Reclaim Kosci.

Gabrielle Upton is the first NSW environment minister since the Coalition was elected in 2011 not to visit Kosciuszko National Park to see firsthand the destructive impacts of feral horses, documents reveal.

“An investigation of the minister’s diary shows she is yet to visit Kosciuszko National Park to view the extensive damage caused by feral horses, despite holding the portfolio when her own government passed legislation protecting these destructive animals in June 2018,” Reclaim Kosci campaign coordinator Richard Swain said today.

• Download images of feral horse impacts >>

“As the NSW environment minister, Gabrielle Upton has an obligation to protect Kosciuszko National Park from environmental threats, and feral horses are one of its biggest, yet she seems to be turning a blind eye to the issue.”

“Not only is the minister failing to stand up for the environment but she is also failing to stand up to Deputy Premier John Barilaro, who is riding roughshod over her portfolio by forcing through Parliament a law to protect a feral species in one of Australia’s most iconic national parks.”

Minister Upton’s public diary shows that before the law protecting feral horses in Kosciuszko National Park was introduced, her only external briefing about the issue was by the Australian Brumby Alliance and the Snowy Mountains Brumby Sustainability and Management Group.

The CEOs of the Invasive Species Council and the National Parks Association of NSW personally extended an invitation to Minister Upton to visit the park in July 2018, which was only declined in January this year.

“The invitation still stands,” Mr Swain said. “A site visit will help the minister understand the extent of the damage caused by feral horses and the importance of an effective solution.”

Background Information

All three previous environment ministers since the Coalition was first elected in 2011 received on-site briefings about the horse issue. This was confirmed by a review of Ministers’ diary disclosures, a GIPA (Government Information (Public Access) Act) request and briefings from retired Kosciuszko National Park managers.

An information request by the National Parks Association of NSW revealed that Gabrielle Upton had not visited Kosciuszko National Park, even with the National Parks and Wildlife Service, since her appointment as environment minister in January 2017, up to July 2018.

The last three environment ministers, all from the Liberal Party, were Robyn Parker (Apr 2011-Apr 2014), Rob Stokes (Apr 2014-Apr 2015) and Mark Speakman (Apr 2015-Jan 2017).

The last environment minister, Mark Speakman, who oversaw the consensus-building 2016 draft horse plan, undertook a two-day ground and air inspection of the park.

The post NSW environment minister turning blind eye to Kosciuszko destruction? appeared first on Reclaim Kosci.

Pull on your hiking boots folks and join us for the final push to the top of Mt Kosciuszko as we send a loud and clear message to the NSW Government – Kosciuszko: It’s a park, not a paddock!

Join the long-distance Save Kosci walkers who have hiked all the way from Sydney to the summit of Mt Kosci in protest at the decision to protect feral horses in Kosciuszko National Park at the expense of its incredible natural values.

Our Save Kosci walkers set out from Sydney on November 3 and after 560 km will be making their final ascent of Mt Kosciuszko on Sunday, 9 December, from Charlotte Pass. You can walk all or part of the last day with them.

When:          Sunday 9 December.
Where:         Meeting at Charlotte Pass, Kosciuszko National Park.
Distance:     19km to Mt Kosci and return.
Time:            Registration from 7.30am for an 8.30am start.

• Register at Save Kosci >>

Alternate route

If you would like to take the shorter route up to the summit, there will be another group of Save Kosci walkers leaving Thredbo to complete the 13km return trip at 8.30am.

IMPORTANT: In case of inclement weather, the alternative date for the walk will be Saturday 8 December. Walkers will be advised if a date change is required by December 5 or 6, based on weather forecasts.

Support Reclaim Kosci

Feral horses are highly destructive animals that destroy alpine habitats, stomp fragile waterways and threaten native wildlife. They belong in a paddock, not our park.

You can support our campaign to save Kosciuszko National Park by making a donation today.

The post Walk for Kosci appeared first on Reclaim Kosci.

The call for nominations comes on the same day that the NSW Threatened Species Scientific Committee listed “the Degradation and loss by Feral Horses (brumbies, wild horses), Equus caballus” as a key threatening process under the NSW Biodiversity Conservation Act, highlighting the absurdity of the Wild Horse Heritage Act that hamstrings the ability of the National Parks and Wildlife Service to remove horses and reduce their impact.

Feral horses are transforming the ecosystems of Kosciuszko National Park and driving 23 threatened plant species and 11 threatened animal species, ten of which are critically endangered, toward extinction.

The NSW Government is required to establish the Community Advisory Panel to provide advice to the Minister for the Environment on the preparation of a wild horse heritage management plan under the Kosciuszko Wild Horse Heritage Act 2018. The highly controversial Act was passed by the NSW Parliament on 6 June 2018 following its introduction by Deputy Premier, John Barilaro, and resulted in the public resignation of a member of the NSW Threatened Species Scientific Panel.
“Having seen the circumstances surrounding the introduction of the Wild Horse Heritage Act, we do not believe that this panel will have the best interests of Kosciuszko National Park and its wildlife at heart, said National Parks Association of NSW CEO, Alix Goodwin.

“NPA will not participate in a process to develop a plan that values an introduced species over threatened native species and ecological communities in Kosciuszko National Park.

“By introducing the Kosciuszko Wild Horse Heritage Act and its requirement to establish the Community Advisory Panel, Mr Barilaro has single-handedly destroyed the legitimate and painstaking consultation undertaken by the National Parks and Wildlife Service over a three-year period that resulted in the draft 2016 Wild Horse Management Plan.

“The establishment of the Wild Horse Community Advisory Panel is a waste of taxpayers money, and the resources being expended on this unnecessary process would be better directed to removing feral horses from Kosciuszko National Park,” Ms Goodwin said.

“It’s time for the NSW Government to abandon the Kosciuszko Wild Horse Heritage Act and take urgent action to cull horses in the iconic Kosciuszko National Park,” said Keith Muir, director at the Colong Foundation for Wilderness.

The post Conservation groups boycott call for nominations for Wild Horse Community Advisory Panel appeared first on Reclaim Kosci.

From today, Friday 30 November 2018, feral horses are officially recognised in NSW as a key threat to native wildlife. The case to address the growing feral horse threat to Kosciuszko National Park is now overwhelming.

The NSW Scientific Committee listed ‘Degradation and loss by Feral Horses (brumbies, wild horses), Equus caballus’ as a key threatening process under the NSW Biodiversity Conservation Act, effective from 30 November 2018.

Leading conservation groups support the listing, including Reclaim Kosci, the Invasive Species Council, the National Parks Association of the ACT, the National Parks Association of NSW, the Colong Foundation for Wilderness, Nature Conservation Council of NSW and Save Kosci.

“The state’s scientists have confirmed that feral horses are causing serious harm to native wildlife,” Invasive Species Council CEO Andrew Cox said today.

In May, Nationals Party leader and NSW deputy premier John Barilaro successfully passed legislation that protects feral horses in Kosciuszko National Park at the expense of the natural environment.

Since then NSW environment minister Gabrielle Upton has had little to say about the issue and has left the deputy premier to lead the process.

“We urge the premier to reign in her out-of-control deputy premier and put the environment minister back in charge,” said Richard Swain, Reclaim Kosci coordinator.

“Environment groups are calling for the protection given to feral horses in Kosciuszko National Park to be overturned and horse numbers urgently reduced.

“The new scientific listing states that feral horses are transforming the ecosystems of Kosciuszko National Park. They trample and kill plants, destroy wetlands, degrade water catchments and drive species towards extinction.”

Twenty three threatened plant species and 11 threatened animal species are impacted by feral horses in NSW, ten of which are critically endangered.

This includes the northern and southern corroboree frog, mountain pygmy possum, broad-toothed mouse and the stocky galaxis.”This reiterates the peer reviewed findings of the Kosciuszko Science Conference convened earlier in the month by the Australian Academy of Sciences,” Mr Swain said.

“The Save Kosci walkers on a 560km protest trek from Sydney to Mt Kosciuszko were uplifted by the news,” said Linda Groom, Save Kosci convenor.

“Walkers are now passing through Bredbo and due to arrive at the summit in just over a week.”

More info

• NSW Scientific Committee Determination Advice >>
• Reclaim Kosci >>
• Save Kosci >>

The post Expert NSW scientific committee lists feral horse threat appeared first on Reclaim Kosci.