00:00 A control method with a controversial past is back on the table.
00:06 By law, feral horse numbers in Kosciuszko National Park are meant to be reduced from
00:11 more than 18,000 to 3,000 by 2027.
00:15 So aerial shooting, which was banned in the year 2000, will once again be allowed.
00:20 "The reality is that their population over the last decade or so has exploded.
00:25 There are too many horses in the park."
00:27 Re-homing, trapping and ground shooting are some of the methods already available.
00:31 The government says those measures haven't been enough to protect the park's fragile
00:35 alpine ecosystem.
00:36 "Probably around 12 species are directly impacted by the horses."
00:42 The issue was opened to public consultation and aerial shooting was supported by the majority
00:47 of submissions.
00:48 It was also backed by a recent Senate inquiry.
00:50 "This is a really momentous day.
00:53 We have had campaigns for over 10 years to get the government to take action on what
00:58 has been a creeping but out of control environmental disaster in Kosciuszko National Park."
01:05 Aerial shooting was outlawed in New South Wales after public outcry over the culling
01:09 of hundreds of horses in the state's north.
01:12 In 2018, the heritage value of the species was recognised in laws championed by then
01:17 Deputy Premier John Barilaro.
01:20 And there are those still vehemently opposed to aerial shooting.
01:24 "We will find shatter-time quarters, bullets everywhere and the odd horse still alive."
01:30 But those who pushed for this change say it puts ecology over emotion.
01:34 "This is the most effective and most humane method of removing the feral horses."
01:39 A view that continues to divide opinion.
01:41 [BLANK_AUDIO]
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