The horses of Australia’s snowy mountains once served to harness the identity of a nation emerging from colonial rule. City slickers revelled in bush mythology forged on the saddle as stockmen settled the rugged ranges. And when Australians went to war, it was on the backs of wild mountain “brumbies” that many soldiers of the Light Horse made their charge.

Now the enduring bond of man and horse – romanticised in popular culture by the poem, and later the film, The Man from Snowy River – has turned bitterly divisive. On one side are the custodians of settler heritage who fear eradication of the horses from an area settled in the 1800s. On the other are the guardians of natural heritage, who argue that rapidly rising numbers must be cut for protection of flora and fauna and water resources in what is recognised by Unesco as one of the great national parks.

Peter Cochran, whose forefathers were among the first to drive sheep and cattle into the “high country” of New South Wales (NSW), fears the worst. “At the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in 2000 in Sydney, the whole heritage of the high country and the brumbies and the mountain stock was portrayed all over the world as being symbolic of Australia,” he says. “And here we are today talking about removing that aspect of our life entirely.”

The former politician, who runs horse treks for tourists, is worried that a government plan to reduce the 2,000 brumbies in Kosciuszko National Park gives no target number and that the endgame is elimination of the horses by stealth.

Andrew Cox, of the conservation group National Parks Association of NSW, says that the plan is “disastrous” – from the opposite point of view. He demands complete removal of the animals, which he says are breeding at 8 to 20 per cent a year, on the ground that the 400kg (63st) beasts create tracks that cause extensive soil erosion, damage creeks and drain wetlands that are home to delicate native species.

The preferred method of removal – luring the animals into yards with salt and molasses – is too tame, he says. “They’re trying to please everybody but in effect what will happen is a very small number of horses will be removed, the horse numbers will increase and you won’t be meeting their stated objectives for the park.”

Aerial shooting is the most effective and most humane method, he says. The RSPCA agrees, arguing that if the horses’ ultimate fate is being processed into dogfood, then trapping and removal are more distressing.

The NSW national parks service is wary. A cull of 600 horses in another park seven years ago proved a public relations catastrophe. Pictures of maimed horses dragging themselves around days after their shooting drew international condemnation.

The community is divided, and fenced in the middle is Steve Horsley, the national parks official responsible for leading the management plan. He says that not only are the horses’ unshod hooves damaging wildlife habitats irreparably but that the treading of creek banks is also threatening the quantity and quality of water on which millions of Australians rely. He says the plan is aimed at removing brumbies from several delicate envi-onmental areas, especially above the snow line at 2,200m (7,200ft), and that eradication has never been an option.

Mr Cochran, who is the great-grand-son of a man some claim to be the original Man from Snowy River, remains unbowed. He says that brumbies perform the essential role of grazing away grasses that are a natural fuel for bush-fires. “We see this as part of the process of evolution. The horse has become part of the mythology and the history and the heritage of the country to an iconic stage where people believe that this animal is part of our culture and environment.”

Australian icon

Brumbies take their name from James Brumby, an early settler, who set his horses free from his NSW property when he left for Tasmania in 1804

There are an estimated 300,000 wild horses in Australia – where there are no native breeds – the largest number in the world

The state of Queensland has shot more than 4,000 feral horses during the past few years and has plans to destroy 10,000 more.

Source: Times research

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