Brumby advocate challenges legality of wild horse removal in NSW alps

The shooting has stopped for now, but a brumby advocate is now mounting a legal challenge to ban the removal of wild horses from the Kosciuszko National Park.

The NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service has announced that aerial culling planned for the park in November will focus on feral deer and pigs, but not wild horses.

Shooting is one control method available to the NSW government as part of a legal requirement to reduce the number of horses to 3,000 by the end of June 2027.

NSW south coast resident Carmen Jackson has launched civil proceedings in the NSW Land and Environment Court against the Secretary of the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water.

"I've brought this forward out of public interest given it's Kosciuszko National Park," she said.

The court heard that Ms Jackson, who was self-represented at today's hearing, had initially sought to stop the shooting of horses in the park.

But with shooting on hold, she has now alleged there was no lawful authorisation to use a method known as 'passive trapping' to remove horses from the park.

"The court today must determine whether the actual person doing the trapping … falls within the statutory pathway," Ms Jackson said.

Senior Council Declan Roche, representing the respondent, sought to dismiss the proceedings, arguing that passive trapping was used to rehome horses, not harm them.

He said there were eight staff authorised to conduct passive trapping in Kosciuszko National Park.

"No aerial shooting, ground shooting or shooting in trap yards will be undertaken until after the results of those [brumby population] surveys are publicly released," Mr Roche said.

"So the only thing continuing … is the passive trapping and removal of horses.

"That's done for the purpose of rehoming horses, not injuring or killing them."

He also told the court there were no plans to use shooting "…until 2027 at the earliest" after the next wild horse population survey is completed.

Judgement reserved

Ms Jackson argued that although shooting was not currently in use, passive trapping was "irreversible" because it still led to the removal of the animal.

She also questioned the legal powers of park staff carrying out the trapping.

"I'm here standing for the public today to get some transparency and accountability," Ms Jackson said.

"I think it's important that the public know what that authority is, so people like poachers can't just go out on country and trap a brumby.

"I can't simply go onto country and start trapping wild horses in Kosciuszko National Park with an implied authority because the actual secretary says so."

Justice Sarah Pritchard has reserved her decision.

In August, the NSW NPWS announced it had removed 3,407 feral animals in Kosciuszko National Park over winter, including 1,039 wild horses.