The Telegraph is reporting that the state government proposal to cull almost the entire population of wild horses in the Snowy Mountains is set to be shelved after a government deadlock.
Sadly it seems that the ‘horses are a cultural icon and must be protected’ interests have won out (for the time being) over sensible land management. For a summary of the environmental impacts of wild horses, check here.
Recently the Victorian government released a ‘blueprint’ plan for the national parks in the Alps, which aims to guide management over the next 15 years.
The plan identifies eight priorities for urgent action, one of which is feral horse control.
Peter Hunt from The Weekly Times has looked into one aspect of the plan which will cause concern among groups who have campaigned against shooting feral horses. However, the environmental impacts of wild horses are well documented and numbers of these animals needs to be radically reduced.
Continue reading “Alps blueprint proposes major cull of horses”
Parks Victoria has released its blueprint for managing and protecting 900,000 hectares of Victoria’s unique alpine and high country over the next 15 years.
The Greater Alpine National Parks Management Plan aims to protect and enhance the outstanding natural, cultural and recreational values of the parks.
Continue reading “Greater Alpine National Parks Management Plan released”
This is a worrying development. Research by the legendary Ken Green shows that rabbits are now moving into snowy mountainous areas by adapting to survive on snow gum leaves when there is limited availability of grass. These are generally toxic to most animals.
The following article by Alice Klein comes from New Scientist.
Many Mountain Journal readers will know that Hawkweed is a highly invasive plant species which can cause major environmental damage in alpine and sub-alpine areas of Australia if not eradicated early. Parks Victoria organises a series of Hawkweed surveys on the Bogong High Plains each year. If you love the Victorian Alps, the surveys are a great way to do something practical to support the ecological integrity of the mountains.
The following information comes from Parks Victoria:
Anyone who spends time in the High Country has probably seen a deer (or several). While not as well known as wild horses in terms of environmental damage, deer are a real problem for sub alpine environments.
Recreational hunters have often argued that they are a key part of the solution to the deer problem and have recently made these claims in the Victorian parliamentary inquiry that’s currently underway.
Brumbies (wild horses) cause a huge amount of damage in the Australian high country. While it is usually the herds in Kosciusko National Park that feature in the news stories and public debates, this recent piece by Nicola Bell from The Weekly Times highlights the problems in Victoria.
Continue reading “Brumby damage in alpine regions rated ‘significant’”
The issue of how to manage wild horse populations in the Australian high country is a complex and vexed issue.
The NSW government has recently released a draft wild horse management plan for Kosciuszko national park which aims to cut the population of wild horses in the park from 6,000 to about 3,000 in the next five to 10 years.
The Guardian is reporting that plans to cull more than 5,000 brumbies in the Snowy Mountains has received the support of leading scientists from around Australia.
Continue reading “41 scientists back plan to cull 5,000 brumbies”
There is currently a parliamentary inquiry in Victoria into the control of invasive animals on Crown land. It is due to report back in March 2017.
Continue reading “Deer hunters want more access to Victorian wilderness”
The Guardian is reporting that 90% of the Snowy Mountains brumbies would be culled over the next two decades, under a plan released by the New South Wales government.
The draft wild horse management plan for Kosciuszko national park aims to cut the population of wild horses in the park from 6,000 to about 3,000 in the next five to 10 years.
The population would be dramatically slashed to just 600 within 20 years, confining the wild horses to three locations inside the national park.
Current numbers of wild horses were unsustainable and the animals were damaging the park’s fragile alpine and subalpine landscapes, the NSW environment minister, Mark Speakman, said.
The Mountain Pygmy-possum (Burramys parvus) is one of our iconic alpine species. It lives in rock screes and boulder fields, and is also the only Australian mammal restricted to alpine habitat. There are only three main populations remaining.
It faces a number of threats: habitat destruction, climate change and predators. The construction of ski resorts in the alpine regions in which the mountain pygmy possums inhabit has been one of the greatest factors attributed to population decline.
This recent story from the ABC by Lucy Barbour outlines an innovative program which aims to protect the species from feral cats.
Continue reading “A new protector of the Mountain Pygmy-Possum”
This article is by Darren Gray, writing in The Age newspaper.
Image: Deer damaging an Alpine bog on the Bogong High Plains Photo: Parks Victoria.
Wild deer causing significant environmental damage in the Alpine National Park will be culled in a three-year trial program aimed at tackling a population estimated to number in the thousands.
The deer – whose numbers are believed to be on the rise – trample through, drink from and wallow in fragile alpine spaghnum bogs, damage waterways, graze on native flora and contribute to erosion. They are damaging some of the most sensitive parts of the high country.
Parks Victoria, which is co-ordinating the shooting program, has reported a “marked increase” in deer activity in the park. It will be the first deer cull to be undertaken in the huge national park to address conservation needs.
Continue reading “Feral deer damaging Alpine National Park to be culled in Parks Victoria trial”
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