It's been five years since Parks Victoria started removing feral horses from the Barmah National Park in northern Victoria and conservationists say the recovery of the landscape has been amazing. But the controversial decision to cull brumbies remains a flashpoint in the region, with ecologists often facing abuse when they're in the park.
Category
📺
TVTranscript
00:00The Barmer National Park is blooming and the reason is simple, the removal of feral horses.
00:10The understory vegetation has rebounded like no one has really seen before. This is amazing stuff.
00:19Since 2020, Parks Victoria has removed 711 feral horses from Barmer National Parks.
00:25Since then, one species in particular, moiragrass, has made a remarkable comeback.
00:32We believe we only had less than 5% left of what was present 80 years earlier.
00:39But despite its success, the Brumby Removal Program remains a divisive topic in the local community.
00:45The park is co-managed by Parks Victoria and Yorta Yorta Nation.
00:50But both organisations declined to be interviewed on camera to protect their staff from harassment.
00:56How have you been? Missed you.
00:58David Watson is a Professor of Ecology at Charles Sturt University and has been vocal about the removal of feral horses from national parks.
01:06I've got people in my research team are working on birds, on wetland birds in that system.
01:10And they've got to remove signage, like university signs from their cars before they go in.
01:14They're vilified, they're name-called, if they're staying at the pub, you know, stuff happens to their vehicle overnight.
01:21In a statement, Parks Victoria said Parks Victoria will continue its work towards the long-term goal of reducing the feral horse population in Barmer to zero.
01:30Mr Watson hopes over time the split in the community will heal.
01:34As the bush bounces back, everyone will get to see just what a wonderful place this is and start to realise that maybe horses are best in a paddock, not in a protected area.
01:43I think we're going to see some magical landscape change within the Barmer National Park over the decades to come.
01:51e.g.
01:59M a
02:02m a
02:09e
02:14a
02:16v