NSW Police are investigating the discovery of two wild horse carcasses in Kosciuszko National Park.
Reports emerged this week that they were found shot to death in a park near the Snowy Mountains Highway.
Snowy Mountains photographer Michelle Brown said her husband Ian found the horses on Wednesday afternoon after a friend spotted them last weekend.
“I was devastated,” she said.
“All our brumbies mean the world to us… they live their lives in the mountains and should be left alone.”
A NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) spokesman said the horses were not shot by its staff and were not part of any approved NPWS control programme.
“The carcasses were found outside the area designated for NPWS control of wildlife, including deer, horses and pigs,” the spokesperson said.
Michelle and Ian Brown have been photographing horses in the park for many years, including this meeting in 2024. (Contributed by: Michelle and Ian Brown)
Under investigation
The Browns have been photographing wild horses in the park for more than a decade.
Ms Brown said one of the horses shot was known as Matagi and the other was her descendant.
Ms Brown said Matagi would be “terribly missed”.
“We took pictures of him almost every time we were in the mountains,” she said.
“He’s a very solitary stallion…he usually stays high out of the way.”
NSW NPWS referred reports of two dead horses to NSW Police.
The investigation is currently underway by Monaro Police District officers.
Anyone with information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers.
The wild horse population in Kosciuszko National Park is subject to a management program. (ABC South Eastern NSW: Adrian Reardon)
Aerial surveys are currently being conducted in Kosciuszko National Park as part of the department’s wildlife control program, including wild horses.
The NSW Government is committed to reducing the horse population to 3000 by mid-2027.
The latest peer-reviewed animal survey estimates between 6,000 and 16,000 horses remain in the park, an increase from 12 months earlier.
The rising population has prompted the state government to announce the resumption of aerial firing as one possible means of achieving the 3,000 target.
A civil case was brought this month in the NSW Supreme Court against the NSW Environment Minister by bungling lawyer Roxanne Phoenix to stop the shooting of wild horses from the air.
However, the proceedings were dismissed today on “jurisdiction” grounds and the case is expected to go to the NSW Land and Environment Court at a later date.