Brumby advocates are ramping-up calls for the NSW Government to stop its aerial cull of Snowy Mountains Brumbies and provide greater support for re-homers. Emotions are running high in the High Country with the state government starting its latest Brumby cull last week as it aims to meet its legislated target of 3000 Brumbies left in Kosciuszko National Park by mid-2027. Large sections of the northern end of Kosciuszko National Park are closed to the public while the aerial shootings take place until the end of June. The shootings have distressed the team at the Cooma Mountain Brumby Sanctuary, one of three approved Brumby re-homers in NSW. A spokesperson for the organisation said they are devastated by the cull and had been waiting for the National Parks and Wildlife Service to trap Brumbies before shooting began. “We are all feeling heartbroken,” the spokesperson said. “There were 24 Brumbies that we expected to be trapped before the cull started but they weren’t. “There was no notification the trapping would stop before the shoot.” The spokesperson said the sanctuary has capacity to take on more Brumbies and should have been afforded more time before the latest cull commenced. “Please give us more time. We could be re-homing Brumbies now, rather than them being shot,” the spokesperson said. The sanctuary disputes the numbers in the latest NSW Government survey of the Brumby population. The 2025 survey results showed a significant increase in numbers over the 12 month period, stating there could be between 6476 and 16,411 Brumbies in the park. The 2024 survey estimated there could be up to 5639 horses. “The numbers are not right,” the spokesperson said. “Horses can’t breed quick enough for the numbers to have spiked that much. Our members spend a lot of time in the park and recently when tracking a large area, we only saw about 60 Brumbies.” Minister for the Environment, Penny Sharpe, has so far rejected calls to stop the cull to allow a recount of the Brumby population. “Kosciuszko National Park remains one of NSW’s most precious locations, and the latest survey shows there is more work to be done to protect its fragile alpine and sub-alpine environments,” Ms Sharpe said. “No one wants to have to kill horses. But there are still too many in Kosciuszko National Park. “We will use the best available science and take a cautious, evidence-based approach to reach the required population target, in order to protect native vegetation, animals, waterways and cultural values.” Across last weekend, Brumby advocates attended a camp-out at the Tom Groggin Campgrounds in protest of the cull. “The camp-out was peaceful and a way of sending a message to the government,” the spokesperson said. The Invasive Species Council has labelled efforts against the cull as a ‘growing misinformation campaign’. “This debate has become detached from reality. A national park is being damaged by an invasive species and somehow the controversy is about whether we should stop it,” Invasive Species Council CEO, Jack Gough, said. Nationals Member of the Legislative Council, Nichole Overall, said aerial shooting is barbaric and needs to stop. “$8.2 million has already been spent shooting them from helicopters - how much more will this current shoot cost when there’s so little being spent to deal with hundreds of thousands of feral pigs, deer, dogs, and more,” Mrs Overall said. “Manage the Brumbies, protect the environment, and respect local communities - and heritage and traditions. “There are alternatives, community partnerships, and better and more humane ways. There’s also plenty of people who are more than willing to help.”
