Shame on the NSW National Party and the NSW Liberal Party, what a disgrace you have become.
Australia, is this what you really want for our Snowy Mountain brumbies?
There has been no independent long term study that demonstrates impartially the "impact" of the brumby on long term retention of water catchment values or native species biodiversity, the cultural continuity among other values being bypassed.
The NPWS "acknowledges" the cultural and social values of the "wild horses" held in the park but fails to acknowledge and use their better known name "brumby" and commonly refers to them as "feral pests". More loaded language. This language used by NPWS clearly does not convincingly or sincerely acknowledge the cultural and social values held by many people, as the NPWS have treated them with total disregard and contempt over many years, as they have the people that raised and worked with horses to build modern Australia, a free democracy. A nation where scientists too can attract research support impartially, with the view to fully inform the public.
There is sufficient evidence that the NPWS estimated Brumby numbers are inaccurate, first population numbers started at 15000 then 9000 then 14000 then 8000 then they settled on 6000, then later revised it to 26000, of which all are extremely over estimated, media hype consistent with TV footage of frightened helicopter muster mobs galloped back and across creeks and wet areas in preparation for the cameras to be turned on, photo opportunities for the propaganda pens collecting biomass at the expense of biodiversity and water. The problem with the NPWS is that they desperately want to justify killing our brumbies and I fear that given their incompetence in being able to estimate the numbers correctly, the brumby population will be extinct.
Given the brutality and animal cruelty that has now begun to unfold, wll the NPWS or the State Government or the RSPCA be held accountable for this pain and suffering? and who will face the prison time in accordance with The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act 1986 (POCTAA).
The soon to be composted blood and bone, cultural heritage the NPWS apparently acknowledge and quickly forget and try to cover the evidence of trauma and obscene treatment by failing to inform the public due to an alleged "fear" for their own safety. The hundreds of dead carcasses with bullet ridden bodies soon to cover the Snowy Mountains will create an explosion in the wild dog, dingo, cat and fox population, it will be another feeding frenzy spilling across the region!
I find it appalling that the NPWS has throughout this whole process tried to convince the community and all stakeholders that the brumby does not have a place in the KNP, rather than providing unbiased or impartial scientific evidence or even attempting to undertake a study that looks at the positive impacts (ecological imperatives) to determine if they (these big animal activities) out way the so called negative impacts.
The NPWS failings and mismanagement of public land has been evident over the last 3 decades with many out of control inferno’s destroying both public and private land, wiping out both fauna and flora and causing irreversible damage, of which at a minimum should have resulted in an enquiry into one mismanagement national parks.
The public opinion on the NPWS is low, due to their mismanagement and opinionated rather than evidenced based management policies and with thier brumby management plan it is bound to get lower when the protests commence now that the evidence of the massacre has begun it's distribution to the media.
An independent review of the NPWS review process of this Management Plan needs to be undertaken, as all the evidence on the OEH website suggests that the “review” was in fact not a review, rather it was a campaign to implement the Management Plan, this view is supported by just about every document available and also in the name of the campaign “Protect the Snowies”. More of the same rubbish the public have been coerced to swallow over decades of abusive public asset process.
For a Government Department to spear head a campaign against the community and stakeholder views using hard earnt tax payer dollars in order to appease the left wing lobbyist within their government is nothing short of disgraceful.
The local community, sheep and cattlemen and horse riders left the mountains in that good of state they chose to create a National Park on the legacy of many decades’ generations of committed strategic continuity of a multicultural proven effective management.
Now through the mismanagement by the NPWS they have created mass inferno’s, of which have decimated habitat for all wildlife.
But the NPWS will not be to blame, as they have found two new “scape goats” Climate Change and the poor old brumby, that defied these uncontrollable holocausts in otherwise designer no graze, industrial strength fire suppressed landscapes in ecological collapse.
The brumby runs grazed green is where the few remnants of biodiversity were fed and fire safe. Fly in fly out frogs, rats, skinks and possums for captive breeding endangered species industries, further encouraging misguided fools on public research grants. The fire went out or went to cool burns on the brumby runs. Defied climate change theories and claims, and because of this, rogues are spinning their epitaph.
In the coming decades when the questions are asked about how did the ecological collapse in the high country happen? And what happened to the biodiversity? Evidence will then be available to support the views and the benefits of grazing activity, unfortunately all will be lost at this point, the biodiversity, the culture, the brumby and the heritage will be lost due to the misguided and gangrene agenda driven views of a few that have not lived in for generations nor understand the high country.
Photo credits to Michelle and Ian Brown