Failure to manage feral horses causing ‘devastating impact’ on Australian alps, Senate inquiry hears

Experts and environmental groups say feral horses are a threat to native plants and animals, damaging delicate ecosystems around Kosciuszko national park. Photograph: Mike Bowers/The Guardian

The failure of state governments to manage feral horse populations is “trashing and trampling” the natural values of the Australian alps, a parliamentary inquiry has heard.

The Invasive Species Council has expressed concern about the “devastating impact of feral horses in the Australian alps, and also the failure of state governments, particularly in New South Wales, to take adequate action to address this”.