Tag: environmental impacts

Horses, camels and deer get a bad rap for razing plants – but our new research shows they’re no worse than native animals

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Robert Sleep/AAP Large introduced herbivores such as feral horses and camels are often seen as “invasive” species which damage native plants. My colleagues and I published new research in Science testing this assumption and found it isn’t true. Instead, both native and introduced species of plant-eating megafauna (weighing over 45 kilos) have similar impacts on plants. The effects of introduced megafauna on plants can drive negative public sentiment towards the species. It’s time to change how we think of these animals. ……………………… The double standard of ‘harm’ It can be a shock to see the impact of feral pigs, deer,… Continue reading

New Research delves deeper into wild horse impacts on the environment

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A new study that, for the first time in the Australian Alps, correlates horse density to environmental impact provides a more cost effective way to manage horses in the wild. Working in two areas of the Victorian Alps, the Bogong High Plains and the Eastern Victorian Alps, the study found that less than 1% of the Bogong High Plains and less than 18% of the Eastern Victorian Alps had significant horse impacts. Furthermore, correlation of horse density and environmental impact via a density-impact function revealed that in this study area, up to a horse density of 9 horses per square… Continue reading

A decade of Anti-Brumby rhetoric has been challenged by new research showing over 99% of Bogong High Plains and 82% of the Eastern Victorian Alps had NO impact from horses.

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ABA Media Release 7 July 2023 The recent study Use of density-impact functions to inform and improve environmental out-comes of feral horse management (Berman et al. 2023), published by Wildlife Biology, has upturned negative claims about the environmental impacts of Alpine horses and how best to help native species. Central to the new research is the premise that to better manage wild horses in the environment it is important to understand the relationship between horse density and the percentage of environmental impact attributed to horses. A key finding from the density-impact work is that, in the areas studied, below a… Continue reading

Winter edition of Brumby Bridges OUT NOW !

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The Winter edition of the ABA Newsletter Brumby Bridges is now available. In this issue: President’s Chat Victorian Auditor General’s Report of the Department of Evironment, Land, Water and Planning and Park’s Vic Environmental Impacts Stop the Shoot Protest ABA Member news Immuno-Contraception Parks Victoria FOI papers Continue reading