Page 1229 - Week 05 - Thursday, 4 June 2020
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Environment—feral horses
MRS JONES: My question is to the Minister for the Environment and Heritage and I refer to feral horses in national parks near and across the ACT border. Is the ACT government concerned about the tripling of horse numbers being estimated in the northern Kosciusko National Park over the last five years as revealed last year by the scientific survey of feral horses in the Australian Alps?
MR GENTLEMAN: I thank Mrs Jones for this very important question. Yes, we are incredibly concerned about the numbers of horses in Kosciuszko National Park. I was able to visit the park with NPA last year and had a look at the devastation they have caused to the upper catchment of the Murrumbidgee River which, of course, flows through the ACT as well.
We are very concerned about the numbers and the implications it could have for Namadgi National Park if, for example, there is a lessening of feed stock for those horses in that region and they seek to encroach into the ACT. We have had a feral horse management plan for the ACT in place for many years. It first began in 2004 and we have done a lot of work in removing horses from our national park and ensuring that they do not intrude again into the national park.
One of my strong concerns is that we have seen evidence of horse visits into the national park, and our parks rangers are keeping an eye on it.
MRS JONES: Minister, can you confirm what policies we have in place to prevent feral horses crossing from New South Wales into Namadgi and impacting, in particular, the ACT’s drinking water catchment?
MR GENTLEMAN: Yes, we have the feral horse management plan for Namadgi National Park which has been successful in ensuring that we do not have feral horses in the park. It involves quite a bit of research work and quite a bit of on the ground work. The end result should feral horses intrude into the park would be, firstly, dealing with them and then the removal of the horses.
We know the damage they do; hooved animals do incredible damage to those very sensitive areas of our ecosystem across the top of the catchment. Whilst we are doing that work on feral horses we are also looking at other feral pests that occur in the national park. That is why the funding was so important to ensure that we deal with sambar deer and those sorts of feral pests as well.
MS LEE: Minister, what discussions have you had with the New South Wales government regarding this issue?
MR GENTLEMAN: I thank Ms Lee for her question. She joined me on that visit with the National Parks Association and I was pleased that she was able to see the evidence of the damage that the horses do in the area.
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