Police are investigating after a man filmed himself leaving a decapitated horse head on the doorstep of the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) office in the NSW Snowy Mountains.
The video, which the ABC has chosen not to run, was posted on social media and shows the man removing the horse head from a vehicle, and dropping it in the doorway of the NPWS Jindabyne office.
The office is situated in the Snowy Region Visitors Centre, which also houses a gift shop and cafe.
The NPWS have confirmed the head was dropped off at its office today, with its Coordinator General Atticus Fleming saying the matter had been referred to police.
"This is disgraceful behaviour from a small group of extremists, and it should be condemned by all Australians," Mr Fleming said.
"National Parks and Wildlife Service staff are public officials implementing the law, despite very challenging circumstances."
Kosciuszko National Park is subject to a Wild Horse Management Plan led by the NSW government in a bit to reduce wild horse numbers.
The goal is to reduce brumby numbers to 3,000 by 2027.
In a separate video, the man accused the NPWS of "not taking any notice" of a reported cull of horses at Snowy Plain, about 30km north of Jindabyne.
In response, the man said he decided to drop a horse head off at the NPWS office because he claims the carcasses in the National Park are yet to be cleaned up.
When asked about the situation at Snowy Plain, a NPWS spokesperson said:
"To protect the safety of NPWS staff, contractors and visitors, and the welfare of wild horses, operational details about control will not be publicly released."
Horrified and disgusted
It is not the first time NPWS staff have received threats and intimidation over their work, which includes culling feral horses in Kosciuszko National Park.
Last year, a handwritten letter was dropped off at the same office in Jindabyne threatening people would "firebomb" it.
Last month, the Public Service Association union gave evidence to a federal parliamentary inquiry to explain that its members had experienced threats of violence as a result of their work managing feral horses.
PSA organiser and a former National Parks ranger Kim de Govrik said he was "absolutely horrified" by today's incident.
"It's such a disgraceful act that someone can place a severed horse's head into a National Parks office, the main tourist information centre for Kosciuszko National Park," Mr de Govrik said.
"To do that without even knowing what's happened to the horse or who had dealt with the horse is an absolute disgrace."
The PSA represents members of the NPWS in Jindabyne, and Mr de Govrik said they were "horrified and disgusted" by today's act.
"This is not an isolated incident, members can't even wear their National Parks uniforms outside the office, virtually," he said.
"This comes at the end of a long line of incidents, in terms of intimidation, harassment, threats, to our members in Kosciuszko National Park."
NSW Environment Minister Penny Sharpe said the man's actions were "completely unacceptable".
"It's a shocking thing to attack the staff and the workers in such a public way in the middle of Jindabyne and it won't be tolerated," she said.
"We have referred it to the police."
