Culling Wild Horses !

The word " Brumby " brings a romantic feeling of nostalgia to Australian hearts.  We link it to " The Man from Snowy River " and the early days when this vast continent was settled by pioneers and the horse was the indispensable means of transport.

Unfortunately a proliferation of wild horses is destroying the UNESCO listed Kosciuzko National Park and the recently released Kosciuzko Wild Horse management plan calls for the numbers to be culled from six thousand to just six hundred, and the remaining herd  constricted to the lower reaches of the park.

It seems inevitable that this will generate a huge protest movement amongst horse lovers.  A few years back the cull of horses on the north coast by marksmen firing from helicopters was an absolute disaster. There were promises of " clean kills " but reality was very different.  Many maimed horses died in agony and the government quickly banned shooting from the air in its entirety.

This control plan is not explicit in its detail but the cull will be gradual and one of the measures used will certainly be fertility control.  It is likely that young horses may be trapped and tamed with the view of being provided as riding horses, but in the past the takeup rate has been minimal.  It seems that the days of private horse ownership are dwindling due to the scarcity of holding paddocks and the cost of feed.

Dogs are said to be " Man's best friend " and horses certainly share that affinity.  The higher reaches of the Kosciuzko National park can not stand the erosion caused by horses hooves but whatever action is planned will certainly draw the ire of many horse lovers.  Expect this plan to draw a heated protest movement.

Another planned animal cull will probably receive a very different reception.   The European Carp has often been called " the Rabbit of the Murray river. "    It is a similarly introduced species that had overwhelmed native fish and driven them to near extinction - and it is the reason that the muddy Murray never has clear water.   The feeding habit of the Carp involves sucking up mud from the river bottom and spitting it out, causing the river to be permanently discoloured.

This fish was originally imported as an exotic to grace garden ponds in many home gardens.  Someone released it into the Murray river and from there is quickly grew in numbers to plague proportions  Government laboratories have been carefully testing a form of Herpes which only affects Carp and now this control measure is about to be released.

The result is expected to be spectacular.   In the first forty-eight hours the river will be a mass of dead Carp and perhaps at least half of their numbers will die.  It is expected that this virus will continue to cull and it will take until 2045 before the European Carp are totally eliminated from the river.  Once again the Murray will be a pristine river of clear water.

The government laboratories are sensitive about using the term " Herpes " because of it's association as a sexually transmitted disease in humans, but this is an Indonesian strain that only affects European Carp.   It has undergone years of testing to ensure it has no effect on other fish,chickens, mice, frogs, turtles, water dragons - or humans.

Few will miss the absence of European Carp from the mighty Murray river.   But removing the Brumbies from the high country will be an entirely different matter !