Kosciuszko horse management plan - consultation ending soon

[Joynz]

The submission period for feedback on the Kosciuszko National Park wild horse management plan closes Tuesday 2 November 2021.

https://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/topi ... ement-plan

The plan is only about 26 pages so easy to read. The feedback survey form is easy to use too.

They are proposing to reduce horse numbers from 14,000 to 3,000 and keep them in 32% of the park.

Interesting that they call them ‘wild horses’ rather than ‘feral horses’ in the plan. It seems to me that they are not going hard enough to reduce horses - which are a big threat to native flora and fauna.

[peregrinator]

Thanks Joynz for mentioning this.

Page 4 of the the plan states:

Sustainable wild horse populations in the park are of heritage value to many people in the local community and across New South Wales and Australia.

Is any one aware of any published survey data that might quantify what "many" means?

[north-north-west]

There's one other problem with that line. There is no such thing as a 'sustainable' population of feral animals, especially in sensitive ecosystems.

[peregrinator]

There's one other problem with that line. There is no such thing as a 'sustainable' population of feral animals, especially in sensitive ecosystems.

Indeed. While it relates to an entirely different class of animal, this is rather like the earlier delusion that there might be a sustainable population of whales in the sea. Around which romanticised notions of the whaling "industry" developed. Similar to the emotional and irrational nonsense from the "feral horses belong in the Alps" promoters. Other extractive "industries" generate the same garbage.

I guess one could also add that the more we learn about ecosystems, the more we discover that they are all sensitive in their own way, especially to global warming. The way some humans are proceeding, that class of animal doesn't appear to be totally sustainable either.

[Joynz]

Thanks Joynz for mentioning this.

Page 4 of the the plan states:

Sustainable wild horse populations in the park are of heritage value to many people in the local community and across New South Wales and Australia.

Is any one aware of any published survey data that might quantify what "many" means?

In the context of the very politicised issue of feral horses in NSW, I think ‘many’ means at least one person wants them here!