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
Brumby action groups across Victoria are calling for a change of plans, with the State Government intending to eradicate hundreds of wild horses in the Alpine and Barmah national parks. About 500 brumbies currently live in the Barmah Forest, with a government tender approving the eradication of about 400 from the area, with similar plans prepared for brumby populations in Victoria’s high country. The plans were authorised by Parks Victoria and Minister for Energy, Environment and Climate Change Lily D’Ambrosio in conjunction with the State Government, as well as approved by the RSPCA. Brumby Action Group administrator Renee Neubauer said… Continue reading
The Victorian Coalition will end the shooting of wild horses to control their populations if it wins the November state election, despite environmental groups arguing the introduced animals severely damage the natural landscape. The opposition has vowed to focus on rehoming brumbies rather than eradicating them by hunting from the ground or air. Last month, Parks Victoria released a tender calling for contractors to deliver the “safe, humane and effective” shooting of feral animals in the Alpine and Barmah national parks. Wild horses are listed as the primary target in the tender document, but deer, foxes, cats, pigs and goats… Continue reading
Victorian premier, Daniel Andrews, has defended a decision to cull feral horses that are causing ecological damage to Victoria’s fragile Alpine ecosystems, as protesters campaigning against the planned shooting amassed on the steps of state parliament. Parks Victoria plans to remove 500 horses from the eastern Alpine region this year as part of a feral horse management plan that includes the eventual removal of all horses from Barmah national park on the Murray River and from the Bogong high plains. The protest comes a month after Parks Victoria issued a tender for feral animal control in alpine areas, for the… Continue reading
ABA has written to the Minister of Environment, Land, Water and Planning regarding the recent findings of the Auditor General’s report into protecting Victoria’s declining biodiversity. The report’s findings concur with ABA’s long held position that the Department and Parks Victoria have lacked sound and rigorous scientific evidence regarding the impacts of Brumbies in the environment. Excerpts from ABA’s letter are below Dear Minister D’Ambrosio, ….The Auditor-General provided a report, Protecting Victoria’s Biodiversity, in October 2021[1] to Parliament on whether the decline of threatened species in Victoria can be halted. The Auditor General report to Parliament found that that Department… Continue reading
