Parks Victoria has refused to comment on claims it is shooting brumbies and leaving the carcasses hidden in Barmah National Park on the New South Wales-Victoria border.
Warning: this story contains an image that readers may find distressing.
Members of local brumby preservation group claim they have found more than 30 carcasses in the park, and they believe there could be more.
They claim Parks Victoria is responsible.
"They've gone out behind our backs and mounted several shooting operations," Barmah Brumby Preservation Group vice-president Murray Willaton said.
Last year, Parks Victoria released an action plan outlining measures to reduce brumby populations through a combination of trapping, rehoming, and ground-shooting.
While a Parks Victoria spokesperson confirmed "planning and implementation" of their plan was underway, they would not confirm how many horses had been culled to date, if any.
However, Victorian Nationals leader Peter Walsh, who was sent photos of the carcasses from preservation group members, claimed it had already begun.
Parks Victoria would not confirm if the carcasses were a part of their action plan.
They added they would not publish any operational details, such as the timing and location of feral horse control operations, to protect the safety of staff, contractors, and community members.
Battle brewing over brumbies
In the wetlands of Barmah and the high country's alpine plains a battle is brewing over Victoria's brumbies.
To some, the horses are an intrinsic piece of Australia's heritage and should be protected.
But to scientists, ecologists, and rangers, brumbies are pests which must be swiftly removed to protect vulnerable native plants and animals.
Meanwhile in Barmah, the Yorta Yorta people fear they pose a significant threat to sacred Aboriginal sites.
But this week the battle spilled onto the steps of parliament, with the Victorian opposition announcing it will scrap Labor's feral horse cull if elected.
The Liberal Member for Benambra, Bill Tilley, expressed his displeasure at government policy by riding a horse onto the steps of Parliament House.
Mr Walsh said the Liberals and Nationals would instead focus efforts solely on the rehoming and fertility control of the horses.
But while the announcement was warmly welcomed by brumby supporters, it was heavily criticised by others.
'It's going to become more of an issue'
Brumbies are only found in two Victorian parks – Barmah National Park, on the New South Wales-Victoria border, and the Alpine National Park in Victoria's high country.
It is estimated there are 600 feral horses in Barmah, 100 on the Bogong High Plains, and approximately 5,000 in the Eastern Alps.
Parks Victoria plans to completely eradicate the horses in Barmah and Bogong, and significantly reduce numbers in the east.
While exact numbers of brumbies are contested, Charles Sturt University professor of ecology David Watson said the situation was reaching crisis point with populations growing unchecked.
"The longer we stand here wringing our hands saying 'oh look it's controversial, they're majestic we don't want to do the wrong thing', we have been doing the wrong thing for over a decade by doing nothing," Professor Watson said.
He was critical of the Liberals and Nationals plan to focus mainly on rehoming.
"That would require about a hundred-fold greater number of animals being removed and rehomed than we've seen historically," he said.
Professor Watson added fertility control, while a good solution for small areas, would be impractical for uncontained populations in vast, mountainous regions.
Trapping efforts stalled
While Parks Victoria has been working to trap and rehome some of the brumbies, they recently claimed their efforts had been hindered.
Chief executive Matthew Jackson told the Public Accounts and Estimates Committee some traps in the Alpine and Barmah national parks were no longer used after being pulled down or tampered with by members of the public.
But the Barmah preservation group, which opened a brumby sanctuary last year to help rehome the horses, claimed this was not true.
"One set of traps have been used in the Barmah National Park. They have not been torn down," Mr Willaton said.
He said Parks Victoria was not working hard enough to capture the brumbies.
Ten horses have been rehomed in the Barmah National Park to date, and none in the Alpine National Park.
Concerns brumbies are destroying ecology
In 2018, legislation was passed across the border in New South Wales protecting the heritage of feral horses in Kosciuszko National Park.
The bill drew widespread criticism from scientists, conservationists, and rangers, who said it prioritised an invasive species over native and threatened species.
Victorian brumby supporters are calling for a similar bill.
Professor Watson claimed the "pro-horse" cohort was a small group of people with "very strong ideals".
And he said instead of "pandering" to these groups, urgent action should be taken to control brumby populations.
"They are taking the place of a whole lot of special mountain creatures, mountain wildflowers," he said.
"We need to really have a long conversation about what matters to Australia and to Australians, and try and rise above this really nasty politics."
