The NSW Government’s wild horse population survey report for Kosciuszko National Park has confirmed the need for continued management to meet the legally required population target of some 3,000 horses in retention areas by the middle of next year.
It says that, while there are early signs of groundcover and vegetation recovery in areas where horse numbers have been reduced, numbers remain high and the damage wild horses cause remains evident across many parts of the park.
Prepared and peer-reviewed by independent experts using internationally recognised best practice methods, the 2025 survey estimates that there are between 6,476 and 16,411 wild horses in the national park.
Wild horses are still an issue in Kosciuszko National Park. PIC: NPWS
The results indicate an overall decrease in the horse population since 2022, when control methods were limited to trapping, rehoming and ground shooting.
Since aerial shooting was introduced in late 2023, 6,686 wild horses have been removed from Kosciuszko National Park using various control methods, including 6,041 through aerial shooting.
The results will guide the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service response, conducted in accordance with the Wild Horse Heritage Management Plan.
The National Parks and Wildlife Service will undertake its next operation to control a range of feral animals in Kosciuszko National Park in June. This will involve aerial shooting.
Rehoming in retention areas will recommence immediately, and horses will continue to be made available to approved rehomers.
NPWS will engage an independent expert to design an initial reproductive control trial for wild horses in the park.
Some temporary closures of the park will be required for safety during feral animal control operations. Visitors should check planned closures at Alerts for NSW national parks.
Minister for the Environment, Penny Sharpe said that Kosciuszko National Park remained one of NSW’s most precious locations, and the latest survey showed there was more work to be done to protect its fragile alpine and sub-alpine environments.
“No one wants to have to kill horses. But there are still too many in Kosciuszko National Park,” she said. “We will use the best available science and take a cautious, evidence-based approach to reach the required population target, in order to protect native vegetation, animals, waterways and cultural values.”
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The quicker they are removed, the better. If aerial shooting is the most efficient method, so be it. the most effective level of feral horses in National Parks is… 0…
Wild brumbies are an Australian icon, immortalised in both the 1982 film A Man From Snowy River and the 1890 Banjo Patterson poem it was based on and are part of our history & heritage. I don’t have a problem with reducing numbers but in a humane way. Shooting wild horses from a helicopter is nothing short of deliberate cruelty. The helicopter spooks the herd, they take off in a frenzied gallop jumping obstacles & weaving & darting to get away. They fall, break legs, foals get left behind and are left to die a slow painful death. Not to mention how many are shot but not killed also left to die. It must be pretty disgusting & confronting to be hiking through a NP & come face to face with dead horses in various states of decomposition. There are surely much better more humane ways of controlling numbers. And what about the feral pigs & deer ruining the countryside pretty much everywhere?