Brumbies face extinction while Snowy 2.0 blasts Kosciuszko National Park

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 26/6/26

Brumbies face extinction while Snowy 2.0 blasts Kosciuszko National Park

AUSTRALIANS are outraged as the brutal aerial slaughter of Australia’s iconic brumbies (wild horses) resumes in Kosciuszko National Park (KNP), while Snowy 2.0 blasts one of the nation’s most fragile alpine ecosystems - the exact landscape the horses are accused of destroying.

Filmmaker Lin Sutherland (TravelwildTV), photojournalist Aldwyn Altuney (Media Queen TV host/ Animal Action Events founder) and Viktoria Kirchhoff (project manager of Fondation Franz Weber’s Wild Horse Sanctuary Bonrook) have joined forces to speak up for our heritage brumbies across Australia.

Lin has just released a powerful short film, Songlines of the Brumbies, giving voice to the local Ngarigo people’s deep relationship with the brumbies and featuring Ngarigo horseman Andrew Wilesmith, exposing the true cause of the destruction tearing the heart out of his Kosciuszko homeland.

From June 9 to July 11, 2026, the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service resumed aerial shooting of brumbies in KNP. 

Lobbied by the Invasive Species Council and supported by RSPCA NSW, the operation allows horses to be shot up to 15 times from helicopters, raising serious animal welfare concerns and prompting widespread condemnation from animal welfare organisations and members of the public in Australia and globally.

“Imagine the horror of horses being relentlessly chased by helicopters, running for their lives while family members are shot before their eyes - stumbling away wounded and dying in agony,” Lin said.

“Or imagine the orphaned foals left behind, slowly starving beside the bodies of their dead mothers.” 

Local residents fear the remaining heritage brumbies, which have roamed the Australian Alps for around 200 years, face the verge of extinction. 

At the same time, the $42 billion Snowy 2.0 Pumped Hydro Project is blasting 40 kilometres of tunnels up to one kilometre beneath KNP, creating one of Australia’s largest infrastructure projects inside one of its most sensitive natural landscapes.

“After the 2024 brumby cull and before the 2026 cull in KNP, locals who regularly observed the brumbies knew there were far less than 3000 horses remaining in the area,” Lin said.

“That number was critical to maintaining a viable population, yet the media reported 16,000 brumbies to justify renewed park closures while major Snowy 2.0 infrastructure works were being carried out.”

Andrew Wilesmith, a Ngarigo horseman featured in Songlines of the Brumbies film, believes the cultural and environmental significance of the region is being overlooked. 

“The Snowy 2.0 project is tearing the heart and soul out of Ngarigo Country. They’re raping the land and are nothing more than environmental vandals,” he said.

In 1989, following international outrage over the helicopter shooting of brumbies, the Swiss animal welfare and nature preservation organisation purchased Bonrook Station in the Northern Territory and established the Wild Horse Sanctuary Bonrook.

Today, about 800 brumbies roam freely (undisturbed and unhandled) across 495 square kilometres of protected bushland alongside 120 wild cattle, 100 water buffalo, more than 150 bird species and numerous native animals, including rare and threatened species.

“I know there is another way; brumbies and native species can thrive side by side,” Viktoria said.

“All animals coexist harmoniously in natural equilibrium on Bonrook. Based on nearly 40 years of real-life experience, FFW can confirm that brumbies pose no threat to Australian native flora or fauna, rather coexist harmoniously with native wildlife and ecosystems.”

She added that brumbies were among nature’s most effective natural gardeners. 

They help the environment by dispersing seeds through their nutrient-rich manure and grazing on tall dry vegetation which minimises bushfires and reduces fuel loads.Their grazing helps manage overgrown pastures and creates spaces for smaller native wildlife to access fresh vegetation, without the need for harmful pesticides.

 “Brumbies are not pests or feral,” Viktoria said. 

“They are the living descendants of the horses that arrived with the First Fleet in 1788 and have played an important role in Australia’s history through transport, farming, exploration and military service. They deserve recognition, respect and protection.”

Aldwyn is horrified by what is happening in KNP and believes many Australians are beginning to question the official narrative surrounding the culls. “We know that the brumbies are a scapegoat for major experimental infrastructure, carving out major areas of our protected national parks, which proves what the real damage

to the environment is.”

Andrew said local Aboriginal knowledge must play a central role in future land management to help Australia have a more sustainable future. 

“They’re killing our lands, our water, our animals - everything,” Andrew said.

“This has got to stop. Talk to us about the best way forward. Sit down with us and we’ll help educate you on how to manage our lands properly.”

The four advocates are calling for an immediate halt to aerial shooting, greater transparency regarding the environmental impacts of Snowy 2.0 and genuine consideration of long-term alternatives that protect both Australia’s unique biodiversity and its iconic wild horses.

“There is no humane way to kill a brumby that belongs on a mountain,” Lin said.

“The brumby numbers are already critically low for our endangered heritage brumbies, which are of global significance.”

To watch Songlines of the Brumbies and other TravelwildTV documentaries, visit:

https://www.youtube.com/TravelwildTV

ENDS

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MEDIA CONTACTS: 

Aldwyn Altuney, AA Xpose Media Director / Photojournalist, ph: 0409 895 055, email: aldwyn@aaxpose.com 

Viktoria Kirchhoff, Project Manager Bonrook, ph: 0415 499 583, email: viktoriakirchhoff@ffw.ch

Lin Sutherland, TravelwildTV, 0413 131 088, email: belowh20@australiamail.com

Photo credit copyright Lin Sutherland