Environment

Kill all wild horses in Australian national park: environmentalists

by nike6 | January 16, 2008 at 08:43 am

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Kill all wild horses in Australian national park: environmentalists

Wed Jan 16, 3:03 AM ET

Environmentalists called Wednesday for hundreds of wild horses to be
shot dead to prevent a unique Australian national park becoming a
"horse paddock," with little room for native species.

Around 1,700 feral horses -- known in Australia as 'brumbies' -- have
caused havoc in the Kosciuszko National Park, according to the National
Parks Association of New South Wales state.

They are increasing in numbers by as much as 300 a year, the
conservation group said, but the state has banned shooting of the
animals from helicopters, widely considered the most effective way of
controlling them.

The park, located near the country's highest peak Mount Kosciuszko,
covers 675,000 hectares (1.67 million acres) and is a UNESCO-recognised
biosphere reserve.

It contains the only alpine lake in mainland Australia, as well as
plant species found nowhere else in the world and the rare mountain
pygmy possum and corroboree frog.

"It is very undisturbed. It is a very intact ecosystem," association
official Andrew Cox told AFP. "I don't want to see a park with 7,000
horses in 10 years time. It is going to be quite scary."

Asked if they should be eliminated totally, he added: "That is our ideal goal -- to eradicate the horses."

"They are very possessive. When they pass through you can see."

The association suggests culling more than 1,000 horses in the first
year, with most of those left killed in the second year to stop the
population growing again through breeding.

It says current plans to deal with the problem by trapping the horses
are ineffective, accusing the state national parks authorities of
caving in to sentimentalism. The association itself is a non-government
body and is not directly involved with the running of the parks.

The area has entered Australian folklore as the location of the Snowy
River, which is associated in many Australians' minds with wild horses.

The state National Parks and Wildlife Service admits aerial shooting is an easy option.

But there is a moratorium on the practice after community anger at a
botched cull of horses in another of the state's national parks in 2000.

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All rights reserved. The information contained in the AFP News report
may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the
prior written authority of Agence France Presse.

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nowpublic member opinion

when i found this, it made me think of BENEATH A STEEL SKY, a video game covering an action adventure set into a totalitarian future, also to australia (there is evidence for fosters), and, in the intro, a helicopter scene.

i think it is not the right attitude, after we discuss in kyoto with soft words, to take the easy option of "aerial shooting", to get rid of unwanted population. similar we could eradicate tribes in africa, because they are disease infected, to wipe the landscape clean, that would be a an ideal goal.

the good thing is that you can play BENEATH A STEEL SKY for free- it is part of the authentic north american AMIGA(tm) game console heritage- that homecomputer that did not make it- but changed human history!

http://www.scummvm.org/downloads.php

this is fully legal download authorized by the original publisher (for WINDOWS TM).

if you next time encounter a scare story, use it to advertise your own interests as well...
no really, the game is set to australia, and the helicopter in the intro scene...thinking in identities!

this is not an advert. the game is a 100% giveaway, because it is a vintage software title. at the publisher site, there are also no adverts shown.

however, it plays in AUSTRALIA, is covering aboriginees, and could be helpful to understand mentality of foreign people.

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Rob Peters

flagged this story as Needs Improvement

at 09:24 on January 16th, 2008

nike6, I think your story has potential but needs some improvement. We are not into commercial postings, and the second half of your story appears to be an adverisement. I'm not sure what Beneath the Sky has to do with killing horses.

Check out our Newsroom for tips on writing news articles.

nike6

at 09:30 on January 16th, 2008

no there is nothing for sale. it is not a primary advert (means, ordered by a company selling products).

the idea is that the slaughter will make australia somewhat unpopular.

my writing is not more nonsense than the daily VIP events you can encounter in womans magazines, on yahoo news etc.

i would be happy if you remove the "improvement" tagging, but if not, i am just participating here at NOWPUBLIC for fun. not for commerce, or political purposes.

anyway, thanks for your interest in my story

nike6

at 04:38 on January 20th, 2008

actually i do not understand your concerns. the connection is pretty much obvious. people using helicopters to ensure their omnipotence.

it is also clear that i do not do original advertising, and at the site, there is nothing for sale. it is not a sales sites for products.

there are many strange stories on the net, maybe it would be appreciate to stamp them as crap, rubbish, and not noteable. however, other people maybe like them (not me). i just skip the VIP lore, who's up for silicon removal, divorce and new molestation evidence. they need improvement too...

OK the "advert" was meant to be cynical- sort of. maybe you should try some fosters. australian horse shooting 2008- sponsored by fosters and windows fiesta (TM)