Save Kosciuszko National Park from feral horse impacts
Petitioner:
Mr Andrew Cox
| Member:
McGirr, Joe
| No. of Signatories:
15,228
| Date closed:
13/01/2021
To the Speaker and Members of the Legislative Assembly,
This petition of NSW residents and visitors to Kosciuszko National Park brings to the urgent attention of the Assembly the severe environmental and cultural damage caused by feral horses in Kosciuszko National Park.
Despite the end of livestock grazing in the national park in 1969 and the restoration of the damage, rapidly growing numbers of feral horses are now destroying the habitats of threatened animals such as the corroboree frog, broad-toothed mouse, Guthega skink and alpine crayfish. The horses are damaging endangered plants, sensitive wetlands and the alpine watershed of three iconic rivers – the Snowy, Murrumbidgee and the Murray. They are desecrating sites and landscapes of cultural heritage value to Indigenous Australians.
The undersigned petitioners therefore ask the Legislative Assembly to:
1. Act urgently to reduce feral horse numbers in Kosciuszko National Park by supporting a horse management plan that incorporates the best scientific and RSPCA advice.
2. Fund a program to restore the catchments, slopes, wetlands and mountain streams impacted by feral horses in Kosciuszko National Park.
3. Repeal the Kosciuszko Wild Horses Heritage Act 2018.
