A wild horse cull in Victoria's northeast is free to continue after an animal welfare group lost a new legal bid to have the practice outlawed.
Advocacy group Australian Brumby Alliance took Parks Victoria to court over the cull in the state's high country but a Supreme Court judgment handed down on Wednesday found in favour of the authority.
About 5000 brumbies live in the Alpine National Park but the exact number of horses culled between August and December 2022 is unknown.
During proceedings Parks Victoria manager of conservation planning Philip Pegler said the number was likely to be "in the tens".
In a statement on Wednesday, Parks Victoria said it has an obligation to control invasive species in national parks, including feral horses, which can cause "long-term and large-scale damage to native alpine plants and animals".
"The most humane feral horse management techniques have been selected on the best advice and Parks Victoria has responded to the current situation with the best techniques available," it said.
Professional shooters carry out the cull by foot but are also able to do so from a helicopter under certain circumstances.
The Australian Brumby Alliance believes fertility control methods should be used instead of fatally shooting the animals.
The group's president Jill Pickering said it is taking legal advice about whether to appeal the decision.
"The Court's decision allows (Parks Victoria) to continue the inhumane killing of Brumbies," Ms Pickering said.
The Invasive Species Council welcomed the judgment and said culling was the only viable way to reduce the impact brumbies have on the environment.
"The sad reality is that we have a choice to make between urgently reducing the numbers of feral horses or accepting the deaths of our native animals and damage to their habitat," advocacy manager Jack Gough told AAP.
"We can't have both horses and thriving national parks."
The cull became a political flashpoint in Victoria over recent years, after animal welfare advocates staged a protest outside the state's parliament and the opposition vowed to stop the practice if it won the 2022 election.
A Victorian cattleman also launched a failed legal bid to stop the cull in 2020.
