Voice of Real Australia is a regular newsletter from ACM, which has journalists in every state and territory. Sign up here to get it by email, or here to forward it to a friend.
Animal culling is an emotive topic and wild horses in the Alpine National Park is no different.
Parks Victoria is moving quickly to institute a culling program that could see up to 400 brumbies removed from the alpine park area. Late on Monday, Parks Victoria announced it would delay the cull until winter. It followed an injunction sought against the cull by brumby supporters in the Victorian Supreme Court.
Cattlemen and horsemen and women of the high country in Victoria, The Land's John Ellicott reported, are gathering to the fray in a bid to save brumbies.
One farmer has offered his property as a sanctuary to save up to 100 brumbies on the Bogong Plains area. He has the support of local landholders and the Victorian Liberal MP Bill Tilley.
Brumby supporters say the brumbies have bloodlines going back 140 years and are part of the heritage of the Alpine areas. The Victorian brumbies do not have the same legislative recognition in Victoria as they do in NSW under Deputy Premier John Barilaro's controversial brumbies Heritage Bill brought in two years ago. In Victoria brumbies are classified as "pest animals".
The Border Mail team of Vivienne Jones and Mark Jesser also reported on the issue. That content is only available to subscribers.
They quoted Victorian National Parks Association's park protection advocate Phil Ingamells as saying: "Since the abolition of cattle grazing in the Alpine National Park, these wetlands have been slowly recovering, only to be impacted now by a growing number of feral horses. Surveys have shown that horse numbers across the Australian Alps National Parks increased from around 9000 in 2014 to 25,000 in 2019.
"That situation is an intolerable one for park managers responsible for protection of our natural heritage, and the headwaters of our mountain catchments."
After an injunction in the Supreme Court of Victoria on Monday, the case will resume next week.
- In case you are interested in filtering your pandemic coverage down to just twice a day, then why not sign up for COVID-19 Informed newsletter?
More stuff happening around Australia ...
- Warning for parents as premier ushers NSW kids back to school
- China barley tariff move confirmed
- Lamb Island community in shock over murder charge
- Economic snapback? Fiscal stimulus hasn't even started yet
- Dig, scrape or no action - they are the options for the lake
- It's about lessons to be learned, not attributing blame
- Push to keep pokies silent
- Don't be fooled by the myths about fleeing from a croc
- Schools plan to embrace multi-modal learning post-pandemic
- Hanson Bay Wildlife Sanctuary on the road to recovery
