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Australia’s wild horses, known as Brumbies, are facing firing squads after government officials there approved a plan to cull nearly 10,000 feral equines that are reportedly damaging fragile habitats in national parks.
But those against the cull, including Jan Carter, president of the charity, Save the Brumbies, claim photographs in circulation show wounded animals in pain and young surviving foals left near dead members of their herds.
According to reports, thousands of horses have already have been shot, including 4,000 at the popular Carnarvon National Park in central Queensland.
Wild horses in Australia are classified as “feral pests,” Carter says. “They are open targets for shooters in state forests; many die terrible deaths.”
Carter has urged the government there to divert funds used for the aerial kills to Brumby sanctuaries and consider infertility treatments to restrict wild horses breeding.
“We are trying to convince the government to introduce programs like the BLM in the U.S. Not the perfect answer, but light years ahead of Australia in terms of management,” Carter says.
“The Government has no management plans in place,” Carter continues. “It’s a case of go in and shoot ’em, leave them to rot, then wait until the numbers build up again and repeat the actions and the bullets. I am ashamed to call myself an Australian.”
Australia’s Sustainability Minister Andrew McNamara has gone on record saying that shooting wild horses is the most humane population-control option.
“The program is not about eradication of feral horses but rather ensuring population is kept at a manageable level in consideration of the welfare of both the horses and the native wildlife in the park,” he told The Courier-Mail.
“Feral horses in particular are causing serious erosion, spreading weeds, destroying freshwater springs and other water courses, damaging Aboriginal cultural sites, competing with native wildlife for feed and destroying habitat,” he continued.
There are an estimated 100,000 feral horses in Queensland where the culls are occurring.
According to the The Courier-Mail, documents obtained under Freedom of Information confirm that large-scale culling will continue throughout Queensland for at least three years in at least four different regions.
Carter urges those concerned to express their thoughts by writing to ThePremier@premiers.qld.gov.au.
What do we do to stop it?
Is there anything that the general public can do to help save these poor horses???
It is such a sad thing to hear that such beautiful animals are going to be slaughtered. Action needs to be taken on this and many other horse related issues.
I do not think that it is right for what they are doing to these Australia’s wild horses, known as Brumbies, it’s just wrong. No animal should be put through that there should be some way to stop this selfish act! I know that these horses are wild but it’s their nature to run free they don’t know what they are doing wrong. I just think that people that can hurt a animal is affraid of other things and they know that these loving things can’t fight back so they think that they are looking big by doing something so stupid. The goverement has no idea on what is going on and he should not have approved this shooting. He needs to think about it these animals if they get hit in the chest that does not mean that they are going to die right then and what about the foals that are going with out their mothers? He needs to stop and think about what he is doing because that is wrong he can try to do a round up and see if people would like to buy them because wild horses makes a cattle horse and they throw really nice colts to. I say stop the killing and let them run free!