NSW Government supports more culls after survey finds 14,000 wild horses in Kosciuszko National Park

The first aerial survey since the catastrophic 2019 bushfires has found that the number of wild horses in the Kosciuszko National Park has fallen by more than a quarter.

The survey found there are now an estimated 14,000 horses — 5,000 fewer than the previous year.

The NSW Environment Minister Matt Kean said while there had been some reduction in numbers, the population remained too large to be environmentally sustainable.

"We will always have wild horses in Kosciuszko but 14,000 is still too many," he said.

"If we want to preserve this precious place and the plants and animals that call it home, we need to manage horse numbers responsibly."

Surveys conducted between 2014 and 2019 showed that the horse population was increasing by more than 20 per cent each year.

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Article written by: Ursula Malone