Julie Pridmore with Willow, an eight-month-old orphan brumby foal rescued from Barmah National Park.
The shooting cull of brumbies in Barmah National Park should stop, Victorian Nationals leader Peter Walsh says.
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Mr Walsh said a new Victorian Coalition government would order the cessation of the shooting cull and end the dangerous practice of shooting in a park that remains open to the public.
He said a new government would implement a horse management plan which could include fertility control methods and rehoming if there was sufficient demand.
As for the damage that environmentalists are concerned about, Mr Walsh said there have been horses running wild in the park for more than 150 years and there were multiple environmental issues in the park because it has not been managed.
Tracks are in an appalling condition, weeds are everywhere, the old cattle yards are in disrepair, he said.
“It’s just not being managed.”
He said a horse population could work if they were managed properly so there is no risk of over-stocking and over-grazing.
“It would take some work to determine the optimal number which would also maintain genetic diversity.”
Mr Walsh agreed that it was dangerous to conduct shooting in a public park without closing it.
His view that a group of horses could be successfully maintained in the park is shared by the Barmah Brumby Preservation Group.
Group president Julie Pridmore said they put a plan to Parks Victoria about two years ago which included an offer to help support a herd of 120.
“We sent three members to the United States to learn about the fertility control program for the American mustangs, which involves darting the mares,” Ms Pridmore said.
“They brought back a computer program and an offer of a $50,000 grant to get the program established here.
“Parks Victoria just wasn’t interested.”
The same has happened to offers of catching and rehoming the last remaining brumbies.
The preservation group is maintaining a herd of about 80 in a sanctuary on private land adjoining Barmah National Park, with the diminishing hope that one day they could re-introduce the breed to the forest.
Ms Pridmore acknowledges this is becoming less likely as the years roll on.
A brumby foal which has been trained by Barmah Brumby Preservation Group president Julie Pridmore.
Last year, 1044 Victorians signed a petition calling on the Victorian Government to stop the cull of brumbies and to financially support re-homers.
This petition compliments 18,288 signatures on similar past petitions and more than 200,000 on the change.org petition.
State Member for Western Victoria Bev McArthur, who has persistently objected to the government’s eradication of brumbies in the High Country, tabled the petition in parliament.
She said the method adopted by Parks Victoria left brumbies dying slowly, foals aborted, left to starve and carcases left to rot or be eaten by wild dogs, cats and foxes.
State Member for Northern Victoria Wendy Lovell is also on the record as opposing the shooting of brumbies in the Barmah and Alpine national parks.
Ms Lovell said the Liberal Coalition policy would focus on rehoming and veterinary intervention to manage the brumby population, standing in stark contrast to Labor’s plan for total eradication.
This is the fourth in a series of stories about the end of the iconic Barmah brumbies.
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