Call to Action

Stop the Brutal Culling of the Brumby Wild Horses in Kosciuszko National Park, Australia

Brumbies are the wild horses of Australia. They are the descendants of escaped, imported horses dating back to early European settlers. For 6 months, the herds in Kosciuszko National Park in the Alps of New South Wales (NSW) were subjected to a deadly culling in the most barbaric and cruel way. The National Park & Wildlife Service (NPWS) used trapping, aerial and ground shooting to kill over 5000 brumbies. Entire families were wiped out, their beautiful bodies riddled with bullets. A handful of wounded horses survived, only to die slowly and painfully in the days that followed. Horses with names like Ragnar, Freja, Maja, Stormboy, Tyson, Adonis, Chaco, Moon, Captain… Regardless of public outrage, the shooting and trapping will continue against the few horses left in the park.

In situations like this, change can happen when there’s an economic impact through boycott, or social media pressure. You can leave comments on the following social media accounts:

Ask them to immediately stop the trapping or shooting of the last remaining brumbies.

While you’re at it, follow and send some love to @brumby_strong for the beautiful photographs above and her powerful advocacy for the horses. Follow her account for more information.

You can also thank @emma.hurst, the MP of the Animal Justice Party, who chaired an upper house committee in Parliament and rejected its final report on the aerial shooting of brumbies in Kosciuszko National Park:

“The report that I had proposed as chair was gutted by the Shooters Fishers and Farmer’s Party and Labor, leaving an entirely unbalanced report that did not give consideration to the very compelling evidence we heard from vets, statisticians, the local community, and other animal welfare experts. Hearing all the evidence it was clear to me that the aerial shooting of brumbies is not justified and can never be justified.

I am boycotting all Australian goods and will never travel again to a country that portrays itself as nature loving, but is in fact the opposite. When I think of the shock and outrage caused by the shooting of Pyrite, an Onaqui stallion in Utah on November 10, 2024, I can’t even fathom what 5000 corpses look like.

The Kosciuszko Wild Horse Heritage Act

This illegal culling ignores the Kosciuszko Wild Horse Heritage Act passed by the NSW Government in 2018. By recognizing and protecting brumbies as a “heritage species” of Australia’s rich history, the law enables active management of the population. Management plans by the National Park & Wildlife Service, however, favor violent and lethal methods over humane options for population control. The Park Service’s inaccurate population counts and dismissal of public opinion in decision making has turned the issue into a bitter debate between those who consider the horses a national symbol and those who claim the animals are damaging the fragile alpine ecosystem.

Overgrazing of livestock in the past, trespass grazing after livestock were banned, economic development to attract year-round tourism and recreation, and climate change also have documented severe ecological impacts. It is unconscionable to place brumbies in the cross hairs while human activity undermines biodiversity on a daily basis with abandon.

The Guy Fawkes Massacre

Back in 2000, some 700 brumbies lived in the little-known Guy Fawkes River National Park. A regional manager from National Parks & Wildlife made the decision to cull the herd. Working in shifts, two teams of trained shooters in helicopters flew low over the treetops and shot over 600 brumbies in 3 days. 

Media caught wind of the cull and broke the news. The massacre made front page headlines, the public were outraged. The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) brought charges of cruelty against NPWS. Most charges were dropped, one was dismissed, none stuck, but the state’s Environment Minister banned aerial shooting of wild horses. Unfortunately, it was approved as a control method again in October 2023, allowing the Park Service to conduct aerial shootings.

♥️ #boycottaustraliaforthebrumbies #wildhorses #brumbies #australia

 

America Mustangs and Burros Need Your Help 

In addition to supporting our work by donating, becoming a patron on Patreon or sponsoring a Skydog, there are several important pieces of legislation to protect American equines currently moving through Congress. It only takes a few minutes to contact your Rep and Senators and urge them to support these bills:

Save America’s Forgotten Equines (SAFE) Act of 2023 (H.R. 3475 in the House / S.2307 in the Senate). This bill will shut down the slaughter pipeline that sends some 20,000 American horses and donkeys to savagely monstrous deaths in foreign slaughterhouses every year.

The Wild Horse & Burro Protection Act of 2023 (H. R. 3656) This bill will prohibit the use of helicopters or fixed-wing aircraft in the management of wild mustangs and burros on public lands, and require a report on humane alternatives to current management practices.

Ejiao Act of 2023 (H.R. 6021). To ​​ban the sale or transportation of ejiao, a gelatin made from boiling donkey skins, or products containing ejiao in interstate or foreign commerce, which brutally kills millions of donkeys primarily for beauty products and Chinese medicine.

You can Contact Members of Congress by calling the Capitol Switchboard (202) 224-3121‬, submitting contact forms on their individual websites, or sending one email to all three simultaneously at www.democracy.io

See our How to Help menu for other actions to ban zebra hunting at US canned hunt ranches, stop production of Premarin & other PMU drugs, and defund the Adoption Incentive Program.