This brumby, photographed several years ago, has most likely been culled by now.
This is the second in a series of stories about the end of the iconic Barmah brumbies.
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There are some things that Parks Victoria didn’t want to tell the public about the destruction of feral horses in Barmah National Park.
Parks Victoria attempted to block Country News inquiries into the destruction of Brumbies in the Barmah bush two years ago.
Considering it has taken almost two years to uncover some of the information about the culling program, the department was partially successful.
The destruction program has been a controversial issue at Barmah (and in Kosciuszko National Park), where some groups have attempted to intervene, either by offering to rehome the brumbies or by criticising Parks Victoria and protesting the program.
Neither attempts have proven successful.
Two years ago, Country News put a list of questions to Parks Victoria about the culling program, following rumours that shooting had begun in Barmah. Parks Victoria refused to even acknowledge the shooting had begun.
It turns out that Parks Victoria contractors had started shooting in the park, without closing it to the public.
Country News sought copies of the Firearms Use Operations Plan, under Freedom of Information laws, but access was refused.
Only an appeal to the Office of the Victorian Information Commissioner could wrest the report from Parks Victoria.
The firearm plan includes safety instructions and outlines how contractors were to conduct themselves in the park.
It becomes clear from the plan that contractors were to shoot the horses in strategic places because they planned to leave the horses where they fell and let the bodies decompose.
A shooter’s attempt at concealing the carcass of a shot brumby. The practice of abandoning the bodies to rot on the forest floor was endorsed by Parks Victoria.
“Carcasses will be left in-situ, concealed and away from active waterways,” the operations plan states.
“Carcass breakdown is anticipated to be relatively rapid. A four-by-four vehicle may be used from time-to-time by the [redacted] to enable them to move around operational areas more quickly and to drag carcasses short distances into heavier cover if required.
“Horses are not to be shot within visual proximity of minor tracks. All horse carcasses are to be concealed adequately with vegetation so as to avoid detection.”
Curiously, Parks Victoria did not close Barmah National Park while shooting was being carried out, but gave some directions in the operations plan to discontinue shooting if the public was discovered nearby.
“To minimise the risk of off-target shooting incidents, shots will only be made in a direction in which the path of the projectile would not cross a primary visitor access road ...,” the plan says.
It is clear from the documents released under FOI, that people were in the park when shooting was being carried out.
“... made call after [redacted] detected suspicious vehicle with [redacted] , along [redacted] to abort for the shift and fall back to operate in. Possibility that couple were responding to gunshots heard in vicinity previous two nights.”
This was in a report, titled an ‘operation debrief’ from 2022, and evidently filed by shooting contractors.
“Wherever possible covered the carcasses. It was discussed that when carcasses were several hundred metres off tracks in dense forest (eg off [redacted]), there is probably no need to cover the carcasses. However covered carcasses provide a signature of our work if field staff come across carcasses in the forest in their day to day activities,” the report said.
The shooters were using suppressors to muffle the sound of the gunshots.
Meanwhile, at Kosciuszko National Park where a similar campaign has begun to remove brumbies, the National Parks and Wildlife Service will close the park to conduct aerial shooting of wild horses.
Parts of the park will remain closed for the next six months as aerial shooting is used to target brumbies and other feral animals.
Tracks, trails, campgrounds, huts, picnic areas and accommodation in the affected areas of the park were closed in March and will remain so until October, the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service said.
An example of documents released under Freedom of Information about the brumby destruction program. The exemptions make some pages unreadable.
Although Parks Victoria resisted handing over details of the shooting plan at Barmah two years ago, the department has since loaded up more information, in its website in a question and answer format (google ‘Feral Horse FAQS’) on their pages.
The questions Parks Victoria wouldn’t answer in June, 2022 were:
Is Parks Victoria conducting a cull of brumbies in Barmah National Park?
If not, is there some explanation for the sudden deaths of so many (estimated at 30-plus) horses being found in the park?
If so, how many head have been culled?
How long will the culling continue?
Has the culling achieved the 100 target for this year?
Was the park closed for the culls?
Will the cull continue into next year?
What safety measures were taken to protect visitors to the park?
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