FAQ's for Feral Horse Management

FAQs for Feral Horse Management

How many feral horses are there in How can horses possibly affect Namadgi National Park (NNP)? Canberra’s water supply? Observations in January 2007 detected The sub-alpine wetlands filter and two herds in NNP, comprising between regulate stream flows within the Cotter 15 and 20 horses. Management has River Catchment that supplies the main reduced this number to one herd of six source of water for the 350,000 people of horses in 2009. Canberra and Queanbeyan.

Where are the horses in NNP? Tracks formed by horses within The horses are inhabiting sub-alpine sphagnum wetlands can ultimately lead grassy flats on Mt Bimberi (the highest to the drainage and drying out of whole peak in the ACT) and elsewhere in the bog systems. south-western area of NNP, along the border with Kosciuszko National Park in Damage to these wetlands by feral NSW. horses therefore has the potential to impair the ACT water quality and What is so bad about horses in NNP? quantity. With their hard hooves, large body weight, and requirement for large The impacts don’t sound very bad so quantities of herbage, each horse is why remove the horses? capable of causing considerable damage Prevention is the objective. By to fragile sub-alpine ecosystems. intervening while there is only a small number of horses involved, serious What environmental impacts are the impacts can be prevented. horses having in NNP? Loss of vegetation due to grazing, trampling and rolling by horses. Trampling of sub-alpine creek lines and where horses camp.

Horses are selective grazers so that, over time, they will alter the plant composition of the grassy flats.

Where horses have entered sphagnum moss bogs, their weight has caused them to punch holes right though, which is expected to lead to water draining from individual sphagnum mounds. This will directly affect the endangered Corroboree Frog.

Further Information Canberra Connect: 13 22 81 Website: www.tams.act.gov.au Produced by ACT Parks Conservation and Lands, part of the Department of Territory and Municipal Services (TAMS). Integrated land management conserves biodiversity and supports an enjoyable, healthy and sustainable lifestyle. Horse numbers are increasing. Without against each animal individually are management, horse numbers in NNP effective. would be predicted to exceed the 200 that were present in the early sixties. This may be expensive, how does it compare with other feral animal As numbers increase, impacts will control programs? become more severe. Horses would Control of feral horses can be more move further into NNP and also damage humane and prevent more damage with other sub-alpine wetlands. lower cost, than many other types of pest control. Acting now results in a better outcome for animal welfare because fewer horses Aren’t wild horses as much a part of have to be removed. our natural heritage as Corroboree Frogs or other native species? How can horses affect the Horses are not native to Australia. They endangered Northern Corroboree were introduced at the time of European Frog? colonisation. In this respect they are no Several of the sub-alpine sphagnum different to other hoofed livestock. They bogs within NNP provide habitat for the are feral animals (having descended endangered Northern Corroboree Frog. from domestic animals that escaped or were released), along with pigs, deer, All of these bogs were damaged by the feral goats and feral cattle. 2003 bushfires, severely reducing the available habitat for Corroboree Frogs. Could wild horses be considered part Recovery of these areas will be of the European heritage of extremely slow and further disturbance NNP? such as that from feral animals, including In the post-war period prior to 1964, horses, could contribute to the extinction (when heavy snowfall almost eradicated of the Northern Corroboree Frog. feral horses) ‘brumby running’ became a recreational activity. There are old horse Don’t snowfalls like those of 1964 act yards remaining within NNP that serve as a natural method of reducing as a reminder of that episode of horse numbers? European heritage associated with feral Heavy snow packs no longer effectively horses. limit horse numbers in NNP. It is also preferable to prevent environmental Feral horses were being removed by damage before horse numbers are graziers from the area that now allowed to increase comprises NNP as early as the Feral horses are not the only late1800s to reduce competition with introduced animals damaging NNP. stock grazing. Why don’t you control all the feral pigs and other pests first? How is the ACT Government Feral pigs, foxes and rabbits have been proposing to manage feral horses in subject to wide-scale control programs NNP? for decades within NNP. Acting now The NNP Feral Horse Management Plan while horses are in low numbers will 2007 indicates that as many as possible remove the requirement for similar of the feral horses will be removed by longterm, wide-scale programs against capturing them in a trap yard followed by feral horses. An advantage of horses euthanasia, with the remainder to be over these smaller, faster breeding removed by aerial shooting. If required, species is that control methods directed aerial shooting will only be conducted by marksmen and helicopter pilots that are highly experienced in this technique. NSW has banned aerial shooting in Why don’t you use horse wranglers to National Parks. Why would aerial catch the horses and lead them shooting still be contemplated in the out to transport? ACT? Trapping feral horses away from vehicle All feral horse management will be access and leading them to a horse float carried out strictly in accordance with all has proved to be too difficult in similar relevant Codes of Practice and Standard terrain in NSW. Operating Procedures. It is also much more humane to Aerial shooting will only take place if euthanase feral horses at the point of trapping and euthanasing is not effective. capture than to subject them to being led across country and then trucked long Are these methods humane? distances. These methods are the most humane and effective methods that are suited This policy is supported by the RSPCA for this type of remote terrain and (National Office) and by the Model Code vegetation. They accord with the new of Practice for the Humane Control of Model Code of Practice for the Humane Feral Horses. Control of Feral Horses and represent current best practice for the animals. A Can’t fences be built to stop feral sedative is administered by darting prior horses entering NNP from Kosciuszko to euthanasia so as to minimise stress National Park? when several horses are captured in a This has been tried and did not work. yard together. The fences extended across open land into thick vegetation at either end. Can’t these horses be re-homed? Horses pushed through thick vegetation Even if horses were led out to trucks and found ways around the fences. and then transported from the Park, the Damage to fences from falling trees was ultimate fate of the majority will probably also a problem in the remote sites. be slaughter rather than re-homing. This is because it is generally only very young Longer runs of wire fencing (tens of feral horses that are suitable for kilometres), or electric fencing, would be domestication and re-homing. impractical in these sites.

What will happen to any foals that are caught? Aerial surveillance prior to trapping will establish if there are any dependent foals associated with the horses groups. Any foals trapped with mares will be euthanased at the trap yard. If foals are observed with groups but are not caught in the trap yard, all trapped mares will be checked to ensure that none are lactating. If a lactating mare is caught without a foal and there is no possibility of locating the foal the mare will be released to avoid orphaning of a dependent foal.