Reclaim Kosci

30/08/2024

Reclaim Kosci volunteers have been out on the streets over the last few months, collecting signatures on a petition to repeal the Kosciuszko Wild Horse Heritage Act. We have over 3000 signatures so far, on the way to the 10,000 required to trigger a debate in the NSW Parliament.

How do we choose where to run our 'petition-tables'? It's mainly based on the availability of local volunteers, though we also aim for pleasant spots, like outdoor markets or scenic lookouts - or next to cafes with good coffee :-) We'd love to hear from people willing to join us for a shift in their local area, anywhere in NSW from now till February 2025. Message us or email [email protected]

If the Act is repealed, management of feral horses in Kosciuszko will occur under the National Parks and Wildlife Act, of which the main Object is appropriately 'conservation of nature', not preservation of a damaging feral animal. A couple of hours of your time would be a great way to help.

27/08/2024

A reminder here of the sort of people who are trying to stop effective control of feral horses in Kosciuszko National Park.
When the NSW Supreme Court found last week that aerial shooting is being conducted professionally, safely and humanely and should continue to protect our native animals and mountain streams, the response from some was to suggest the judge was corrupt or should be shot...
There is no place for disgusting attacks like this.

21/08/2024

Australia's highest national park got some welcome news from NSW's highest court today, when Justice Davies dismissed the attempt by the Snowy Mountains Bush User Group to stop aerial shooting of feral horses in Kosciuszko. The Judge found that the information provided to the Minister was not inadequate or misleading (as claimed by the SMBUG), and that there was 'no evidence that the Amended Plan is being carried out contrary to law, whether the Protection of Cruelty to Animals Act or otherwise. The evidence is to the contrary'.

We are pleased that the ongoing removal of feral horses from Kosciuszko will continue through the use of aerial shooting. This is necessary to save our native animals and protect our mountain streams. We have full confidence that national park staff are undertaking these important operations professionally, safely and humanely, as has been confirmed by numerous independent reviews, including by the RSPCA and vets.

Image: The Sentinel in spring, Kosciuszko NP, by Tony Brown.

11/08/2024

This is the transcript of comments on national parks by MPs Wes Fang and Robert Borsak during a NSW Parliamentary committee hearing on 31 July:

Ms SUE HIGGINSON: What's your current assessment of how much country within New South Wales is protected in a national park ...?
The Hon. ROBERT BORSAK: Too much.
ATTICUS FLEMING: It's approximately 10 % of New South Wales ...
The Hon. WES FANG: Ten per cent? What a waste.
The Hon. ROBERT BORSAK: As I said, too much.

Do you agree with Mr Fang and Mr Borsak?

Image: Kosciuszko National Park in January, by Rattana Keo.

06/08/2024

On 16th July, the Alpine Water Skink (Eulamprus kosciuskoi) was added to the federal government's list of threatened species. Habitat damage by feral horses is listed as one of its threats, along with global warming & increased fire frequency.

This sad 'elevation' to the threatened species list comes at a time when the NSW government has temporarily halted its program to reduce feral horse numbers in Kosciuszko. Minister Penny Sharpe has explained that the halt is due to weather conditions and the program's success in reducing the horse numbers to near the 3000 target. But 3000 horses is still too many for vulnerable small native animals like the Alpine Water Skink. Image: Eulamprus kosciuskoi enjoying, for the time being, some alpine sunshine, by Zak Atkins.

24/07/2024

Scientists from the NSW Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water have been studying 'extremely rare' terrace formations in Kosciuszko National Park. They describe the formations as 'highly susceptible to damage from feral pests'. The formations are less than a hundred metres from the edge of the northern Kosciuszko feral horse retention zone. More in today's article in About Regional by Edwina Mason:

Formations resembling a series of rice paddies on a slope that’s far from tropical has scientists poring over the high…

17/07/2024

Finally, the higher parts of Kosciuszko NP are covered in thick snow. The shrubs and grasses of the alpine areas, with a decent snow cover on top, form a welcome winter doona for Kosciuszko’s alpine animals. Here are some facts about snow ecology.

- The space between the ground and the snow is called the subnivean space. Mountain pygmy possums need it to hibernate. It keeps them at around 2 degrees - without it their temperature drops fatally to 0 degrees or lower.

- Though broad-toothed rats don’t hibernate – they remain active in winter – they still need the subnivean space to keep warm. And if the protective vegetation and snow above them are too thin, foxes can sense their movements and dig down to catch them. Fox diets in alpine areas are 45% to 82% broad toothed rats.

- As the snow line shrinks upwards, some alpine wildflowers will struggle – particularly ones like Ranunculus niphophilus that depend on a steady trickle of water from spring snow patches. Lower altitude plants will move upwards to replace them; the quickest of these colonisers will likely be invasive weeds.

The bottom line is that human-induced global warming and human-introduced feral herbivores and weeds are slowly destroying the delicate balance of the ecology of the snow country. We are stealing the high country’s winter doona.

13/07/2024

One of Kosciuszko National Park's winter secrets - if you want a break from the crowded ski resorts, the Thredbo Valley Track offers a gently undulating walk through beautiful old growth forest. For most of the year it is open to cyclists, but in winter it is open only to walkers - so it's very peaceful! It's also sheltered from most of the winter winds. Kosciuszko - enjoy it, protect it!

03/07/2024

The Land carries a story today on the broader aspects of the call for a ban on all aerial culling, particularly the effect of such a ban on controlling animals like feral pigs on agricultural land. It quotes the Invasive Species Council's concerns about an "alliance of the Animal Justice Party, certain members of the National Party, the One Nation Party, and Ray Hadley with elements of the Shooters and Fishers Party teaming up to try and put restrictions on aerial culling with completely devastating impacts on the environment, devastating impacts for agriculture, and also an increased risk for road users". For those with a subscription to the Land, the full story is at

A campaign to ban aerial culling could have serious implications on feral animal control.

02/07/2024

Have a listen to this important interview with Invasive Species Council Advocacy Director Jack Gough on the NSW Country Hour to discussing the feral horse re-homing program in Kosciuszko National Park.

Rehoming feral horses is often assumed to be a more humane option than shooting, but the reality is very different. Horses that are rehomed go through enormous stress and are often injured in the process.

The process involves rounding up, capturing, confining and transporting large wild animals that are not used to human contact and are often in poor health already. Many of them are so stressed or sick or injured from this process that they have to be shot anyway.

The horses that make it to a rehoming facility then have to be broken so that they are safe for their new owners. This has further welfare implications and there are only a very small number of people with the skills to break a feral horse.

Once horses have been through this process, there is then the further issue that many people who like the idea of owning a brumby only want ‘high quality’ horses of a certain size, colour or temperament.

Just as with abandoned cats and dogs at the pound, this means for many less desirable feral horses there is no one who wants to take them.

Trapping and rehoming of feral horses has been used as the primary management method for feral horses in Kosciuszko National Park for well over a decade but has consistently failed to reduce the population. This is due to the high number of horses and the low number of rehoming options that meet welfare standards.

The main impact of relying on rehoming as a management method has been to delay meaningful action and drive up management costs.

No one likes to see animals killed, but the sad reality is we have a choice to make between reducing feral horse numbers or accepting the destruction of sensitive alpine homes of our native animals and the trashing and trampling of our mountain streams.

29/06/2024

The Reclaim Kosci campaign to save our alpine wildlife and mountain streams from being trashed, trampled and polluted by feral horses depends on the backing from the Invasive Species Council.
And they depend on the donations of everyday Aussies who love our environment and back them to keep up all the good work driving action and funding on invasive species like feral horses.
With the end of financial year coming up, can you make a tax-deductible donation today to support this work continuing? Thank you https://invasives.org.au/donate/

26/06/2024

What do the brumby activists actually want? The abolition of Kosciuszko National Park and a return to cattle grazing.
Here it is in black and white from one brumby group: 'To save the brumbies and preserve the tradition, the park should be turned back into stock routes and cattle leases … fully grazed' – Australian Brumbies United, Facebook Post
Of course, we should remember that many graziers are not brumby advocates. Plenty of grazing families in the Snowy Mountains region have spoken up in support of strong action to protect the Park from the damage caused by feral horses.

25/06/2024

Here are the detailed reasons from the NSW Supreme Court rejecting a recent application from a pro-feral horse group to halt aerial culling in Kosciuszko National Park. They were seeking a temporary stop ahead of a further hearing on July 2 and 3.

That hearing will go ahead next week, but the Judge's reason are very revealing of the absence of evidence and flimsiness of their case. The Judge found:

- "there is no evidence that satisfies me on the balance of probabilities that horses are being killed in a way that causes them unnecessary and unjustifiable pain."

- "there is no evidence that satisfies me on the balance of probabilities that the number of horses that might be killed between now and 1 July 2024 will or may fall under the 3,000 threshold"

- "suspension of the control operations threatens the environment, with feral horses being recognised as a key risk to the park, including a number of vulnerable species."

-" I am not satisfied ... that there is yet demonstrated a sufficient likelihood of success standing alone to support the need to grant an interlocutory injunction."

The full judgement is here: https://www.caselaw.nsw.gov.au/decision/1900ebd2abd67e7d1e15ca90

23/06/2024

A tick from the top! We are giving a shout out to the Australian Alps Ministerial Council. At the Council's meeting last Friday at Taronga Zoo, they congratulated the NSW Government on its work to rapidly bring the feral horse population in Kosciuszko National Park under control. Minister Sharpe reported updated figures: at 14 June, 8,845 horses have been removed from Kosciuszko; 6,306 of these since the last population survey in October 2023. She also noted that there were 'already signs of the damaged ecosystems in the Australian Alps starting to recover'. More at:
www.dcceew.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/australian-alps-ministerial-council-21-june-2024.pdf Image: Rocks near Mt Townsend, KNP. No, the people in the photo are not the Alps Ministerial Council members, though we feel sure they would have loved it as a meeting venue.

23/06/2024

Botanical photographer Lachlan Copeland has just sent us a fresh batch of images of orchids in Kosciuszko National Park. These beautiful photos are a timely reminder of the importance of protecting Kosciuszko's very special plants from damage by feral grazing animals - horses, deer and pigs. Many of these photos were taken in zones of Kosciuszko designated for 'horse retention'.

20/06/2024

A video has been circulating on social media of a feral horse in Kosciuszko National Park with an injured leg. Shock jocks at 2GB are using it as an opportunity to call for an end to the aerial shooting program.

Don't fall for this nonsense. It is not unusual for feral animals to be seen in poor condition or injured - this is the reality of life for animals in the wild.

Feral horses in Kosciuszko National Park and across Australia are frequently found to be worm riddled, poorly nourished or injured.

Remember, when so many died horrible deaths during the last drought? This will happen again if the numbers are not reduced.

We have full confidence that national park staff are undertaking the important operations to reduce the number of feral horses in the national park professionally, safely and humanely. This has been confirmed by numerous independent reviews, including by the RSPCA and vets.

No one likes to see animals killed, but the sad reality is that we have a choice to make between urgently reducing the numbers of feral horses or accepting the destruction of sensitive alpine ecosystems and habitats, and the decline and extinction of native animals.

15/06/2024

Thank you to the incredible biologists working so hard to bring the southern corroboree frog back from the brink of extinction.
They face a range of serious threats including the amphibian chytrid fungus, drought, bushfires, climate change and the impact of feral horses, pigs and deer.
The NSW Government's recent work to start to bring down the out-of-control feral horse population in the mountains is essential to their survival in the wild.
All the great work of the biologists undertaking a captive breeding program could be lost if feral horses are allowed to continue to trample, trash and pollute their homes.

More than 3,400 southern corroboree frog eggs have been released into their natural habitat in the NSW Snowy Mountains in the hope of bringing the iconic species back from the brink of extinction.

14/06/2024

Good news: Today the NSW Supreme Court rejected an application from pro-brumby group, Snowy Mountain Bush Users Group, to halt aerial culling in Kosciuszko National Park.

They were seeking a temporary stop ahead of a further hearing on July 2 and 3 and this was rejected.

We've now seen a number of court cases in Victoria and NSW where a small group who don’t want to see a single horse removed are trying to frustrate the important work of our national park staff.

To date all of these court cases have been overturned.

We have full confidence that national park staff are undertaking these important operations professionally, safely and humanely, as has been confirmed by numerous independent reviews, including by the RSPCA and vets.

No one likes to see animals killed, but the sad reality is that we have a choice to make between urgently reducing the numbers of feral horses or accepting the destruction of sensitive alpine ecosystems and habitats, and the decline and extinction of native animals.

Aerial culling by highly trained professionals is the only viable way of reducing numbers and saving the national park and our native animals that live there.

11/06/2024

This is a very revealing video which needs to be watched and shared. It exposes the nonsense at the heart of the arguments from the small, angry group who want to keep feral horses trashing, trampling and polluting Kosciuszko National Park.

It features Claire Galea, the so called 'independent expert' that 2GB shock jock Ray Hadley, National MP Wes Fang, One Nation and the pro-feral horse mob have been using in the media and in parliament to apparently expose that the government's estimate of about of about 17,000 feral horses in Kosciuszko National Park as wrong.

This video is of Ms Galea in November 2023 stating very clearly that she’d be “amazed if there’s 5 or 6 hundred horses at most” in the whole National Park at that time.

Well since November 2023 the National Parks Service have removed over 6,000 feral horses from the National Park - ten times more than her estimate! And if you head up to Kosci today you will have no trouble seeing feral horses all over the place.

So will Ray Hadley and the Nationals pay more attention to the scientists at the CSIRO, the Australian Academy of Science or the University of New England in future, rather than a random statistician undertaking a PhD into the impact of Dolly Parton's Imagination Library in Tamworth who has no expertise in counting wildlife? We doubt it, but for everyone else this should be the end of the matter.

We think Richard Swain, a local Snowy River guide, founder of the Reclaim Kosci campaign and Invasive Species Council Indigenous ambassador said it best:

‘These figures should once and for all end the ridiculous anti-science questioning of the accuracy of the count of feral horses being pushed by fringe groups that do not want to see a single feral horse removed from the National Park.

‘For the sake of Country, we all need to move past these ridiculous claims and stick with the peer-reviewed science conducted by experts in wildlife ecology.’

08/06/2024

Noone likes to see animals killed, but the sad reality is we have a choice to make between rapidly reducing the populations of feral animals trashing, trampling & killing our native wildlife or we will see more extinctions.
Extinction is forever.

07/06/2024

Good news: The ABC Ombudsman has released a rare, scathing report which finds the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) breached editorial standards for accuracy and impartiality when reporting on the issue of feral horses in Kosciuszko National Park.

The ABC have issued a correction and clarification, but not an apology.

The finding is in response to detailed complaints made by the Invasive Species Council.

While it is disappointing that it took 2 months to resolve such a clear example of biassed and inaccurate reporting, we welcome this clear and scathing ruling.

The Ombudsman has unequivocally backed up the detailed complaint about the stark inaccuracies, lack of context and bias in the news reports read by journalist Jamelle Wells on ABC radio in April this year. Those reports made unsubstantiated claims the government’s count of feral horses was wrong and failed to present publicly available, expert information on animal welfare.

The Ombudsman has found that the unbalanced ABC report, as well as the comments provided to the ABC by National Party MP Wes Fang, failed to identify a single credible expert source to substantiate their claim that the government’s estimate of the feral horse population in Kosciuszko National Park was wrong.

The Ombudsman also found that comprehensive expert information and context on the animal welfare outcomes of the aerial cull was ignored, and that the ABC ignored an extensive list of relevant, credible, and expert organisations, including the RSPCA NSW and the Australian Veterinary Association, who are supportive of the government’s aerial cull.

It is disappointing that the ABC have not issued an apology to their readers for this.

The complaint we made also exposed extensive evidence that the journalist who read out the inaccurate and biassed report, Jamelle Wells, was actively assisting a campaign to stop aerial shooting of feral horses.

This included regular posts on social media attacking the NSW Government and the RSCPA, advising the campaign on media strategy, encouraging them to seek donations for a PR firm and assisting them to find a PR firm.

This was covered by ABC’s Media Watch who said that it "compromised the ABC’s independence": https://www.abc.net.au/mediawatch/episodes/brumbies/103710960

This issue of journalistic bias and misconduct by Jamelle Wells remains unresolved as the Ombudsman has concluded that this is a matter for ABC management.

The ABC advised the federal Senate last week that there is an ongoing investigation into whether or not this was considered to be misconduct but that this is unable to be finalised as the journalist is on personal leave.

Ombudsman report: https://www.abc.net.au/about/ombudsman/investigation-reports/ombudsman-investigation-report-nsw-aerial-cull-wild-horses/103938364

ABC correction: https://www.abc.net.au/news/corrections/2024-06-06/feral-horse-estimates/103945638

30/05/2024

Here's an alarming fact for you:
Australia & Antartica are the only continents with no native ungulates (mammals with hard hooves), BUT... Australia now has the world’s largest wild populations of sambar deer, water buffalo, camels, horses, banteng & goats!
Our native wildlife do not thank us for this.

27/05/2024

This is an important graph. It shows what dedicated community campaigning, cross-party political will, good reporting, detailed science, committed donors and the backing of our professional National Parks staff can achieve.

It shows that more feral horses have been removed from Kosciuszko National Park in the past 11 months (7,188 as of May 24, 2024) than in the previous 21 years combined (6,125)!

It shows that, for the first time, the number removed exceeds annual population growth (~18%), meaning we can expect a genuine reduction in the number of feral horses in the National Park.

It shows that after years of delays and inaction, finally our native wildlife and mountain streams have a chance to start recovering from decades of being trashed and trampled by thousands of feral horses.

Of course this is only the beginning. Success will require ongoing feral horse removals at this scale in years to come. It will depend on cross-party political commitment and courage. And it will require persistent vigilance against the angry minority who want a national park to be just another horse paddock.

It will also require the NSW Parliament to tear up Barilaro's ridiculous law protecting feral horses over our native animals in a national park.

A huge thank you to the hundreds of people who have been involved and have stayed involved in this campaign over the years.

Penny Sharpe MLC and Chris Minns - this will be a proud part of your legacy. Thank you🙏

26/05/2024

For first time, the number of feral horses removed from Kosciuszko National Park has exceeded annual population growth. New figures from the Parks Service show
- 5539 horses removed by aerial shooting since Oct 2023
- 8718 removed by all methods, including rehoming, since the current feral horse management plan started in Nov 2021. More in The Guardian - bit.ly/GuardianMoreThan5000

On behalf of the native plants and animals of Kosciuszko, we'd like to send this Kosci wild flower photo as a thank you to:
- , former NSW Environment Minister, for seeing the Kosciuszko Wild Horse Management Plan through its lengthy consultative process;
- , current Environment Minister, for continuing the Plan and amending it so it can reach its target
- Parks staff, for not only doing their job, but doing it with animal welfare procedures that have passed all checks, from independent vets and the RSPCA, with flying colours.
Image: Fringe lily, near Landers Falls track, KNP, by Rupert Barnett.

24/05/2024

Yesterday, the native broad-toothed rat was recognized as one step closer to extinction. The NSW Threatened Species Scientific Committee has uplisted it from Vulnerable to Endangered. NSW Environment Minister Penny Sharpe announced this sad change of status yesterday to the parliamentary Animal Welfare Committee’s inquiry into shooting of feral horses. She noted that the broad-toothed rat had undergone a large reduction in population size and that feral horses were a key driver of the decline. We applaud this timely reminder that an Animal Welfare Committee should consider the welfare of all animals, and should give special weight to the survival of native animals in national parks. Image: Minister Sharpe showing a photo of the broad toothed rat to the parliamentary Animal Welfare Committee, 23 May 2024.

18/05/2024

Some enterprising native broad toothed rats are living under the steel mesh walkway between the top of the Thredbo chair and Rawsons Pass, in Kosciuszko NP. The second photo shows one of their runways, viewed through the steel mesh. They are doubly protected - by the mesh and by their own efforts in making the grass runway - from birds of prey, foxes, trampling by feral horses, and the winter snows that are now starting to fall. Stay safe, little critters!
Images: (1) Broad toothed rat (Mastacomys fuscus) by Ken Green. (2) Broad toothed rat runway, with scats, under steel walkway, May 2024.

09/05/2024

The Conversation has today reported new study which has found that feral horses in Kosciuszko are decreasing carbon stores by damaging peat country. 'Where there was no evidence of horse activity, the peatlands were storing 45% more carbon in their soils than peatlands with evidence of horses'.

More at https://theconversation.com/feral-horses-in-australias-high-country-are-damaging-peatlands-decreasing-carbon-stores-228990

Image: horse-damaged peatlands on Boggy Plain, Kosciuszko NP

05/05/2024

Brumby advocates keep saying the NSW government’s estimate of feral horses in Kosciuszko National Park is wrong: ‘less than 3000’ according to Peter Cochran, Alan Lanyon and Joanne Canning, speaking prior to October 2023.

The Sydney Morning Herald has today reported new figures: 4791 have been shot since October 23. And pro-brumby pages are showing videos of mobs still present in northern Kosciuszko. Do the maths – who can count and who can’t?

30/04/2024

Thank you to the National Parks staff professionally & humanely removing feral horses to save our native wildlife
🥰🌼🐸🙏

26/04/2024

We support the NSW Government's decision today to suspend the feral horse rehoming program from Kosciuszko National Park while an investigation is undertaken into the welfare implications of the practice.

While we support rehoming as one management option for feral horses, there must be strict protocols to ensure the high welfare risks involved are reduced.

Rehoming feral horses is often assumed to be a more humane option than shooting, but the reality is very different.

Horses that are rehomed go through enormous stress and are often injured in the process.

The process involves rounding up, capturing, confining and transporting large wild animals that are not used to human contact and are often in poor health already. Many of them are so stressed or sick or injured from this process that they have to be shot anyway.

The horses that make it to a rehoming facility then have to be broken so that they are safe for their new owners. This has further welfare implications and there are only a very small number of people with the skills to break a feral horse.

Once horses have been through this process, there is then the further issue that many people who like the idea of owning a brumby only want 'high quality' horses of a certain size, colour or temperament.

Just as with abandoned cats and dogs at the pound, this means for many less desirable feral horses there is no one who wants to take them.

Trapping and rehoming of feral horses has been used as the primary management method for feral horses in Kosciuszko National Park for well over a decade but has consistently failed to reduce the population. This is due to the high number of horses and the low number of rehoming options that meet welfare standards.

The main impact of relying on rehoming as a management method has been to delay meaningful action and drive up management costs.

No one likes to see animals killed, but the sad reality is we have a choice to make between reducing feral horse numbers or accepting the destruction of sensitive alpine homes of our native animals and the trashing and trampling of our mountain streams.

The Invasive Species Council supports the NSW Government's decision today to suspend the feral horse rehoming program from Kosciuszko National Park while an investigation is undertaken into the welfare implications of the practice.

While we support rehoming as one management option for feral horses, there must be strict protocols to ensure the high welfare risks involved are reduced.

Rehoming feral horses is often assumed to be a more humane option than shooting, but the reality is very different.

As you can see from this extract from a submission to the recent Senate inquiry into feral horses by a group called "Save the Brumbies Inc", horses that are rehomed go through enormous stress and are often injured in the process.

The process involves rounding up, capturing, confining and transporting large wild animals that are not used to human contact and are often in poor health already. Many of them are so stressed or sick or injured from this process that they have to be shot anyway.

The horses that make it to a rehoming facility then have to be broken so that they are safe for their new owners. This has further welfare implications and there are only a very small number of people with the skills to break a feral horse.

Once horses have been through this process, there is then the further issue that many people who like the idea of owning a brumby only want 'high quality' horses of a certain size, colour or temperament.

Just as with abandoned cats and dogs at the pound, this means for many less desirable feral horses there is no one who wants to take them.

Trapping and rehoming of feral horses has been used as the primary management method for feral horses in Kosciuszko National Park for well over a decade but has consistently failed to reduce the population. This is due to the high number of horses and the low number of rehoming options that meet welfare standards.

The main impact of relying on rehoming as a management method has been to delay meaningful action and drive up management costs.

No one likes to see animals killed, but the sad reality is we have a choice to make between reducing feral horse numbers or accepting the destruction of sensitive alpine homes of our native animals and the trashing and trampling of our mountain streams.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-04-26/nsw-suspends-wild-horse-rehoming-program/103771662