Scientists want to cull the population of thousands of wild horses.. but why?

Zeina Nasser

A proposal done by a number of scientists has lead many people (more than 250) to protest in Sydney. The proposal is mainly about culling thousands of wild horses, which the people say “they (wild horses) have been in a park in Australia for 150 years”. According to the protesters, “shooting 90% of the population is unacceptable”.

Forty-one scientists from 16 universities have written to the New South Walespremier, Mike Baird, to support the proposed cull of 90% of the brumby population in Kosciuszko national park.

The Guardian mentioned that “they are backing a controversial NSW government plan to reduce the number of brumbies from 6,000 to 600 over 20 years, arguing it is needed to protect the delicate Alpine environment”.

One of the signatories, Prof Don Driscoll from Deakin University, said: “Horses are stock animals recently introduced and are not characteristic of this area, but threaten ecosystem processes, ecosystems and species that are characteristic,” adding that “the brumbies in Kosciuszko had degraded 48% of the national park and the current management strategy was not working. The population had increased from 4,200 in 2009 to 6,000 despite 450 being removed each year.”

Driscoll also said that the scientists did not agree with all aspects of the plan, arguing the 20-year time frame for the cull was too long and it would be humane to speed up the process.

What is culling?

It is the process of segregating organisms from a group according to desired or undesired characteristics

In animal breeding, culling is the process of removing or segregating animals from a breeding stock based on specific criteria. This is done either to reinforce or exaggerate desirable characteristics, or to remove undesirable characteristics from the group.

For livestock and wildlife,culling often refers to the act of killing removed animals

Culling is sometimes used as a term to describe indiscriminate killing within one particular species which can be due to a range of reasons, for example, badger culling in the United Kingdom.

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