Victorian farmers and cattlemen are satisfied that the aerial shooting of feral horses will not occur in their state anytime soon, despite the NSW government confirming that the practice will go ahead in Kosciuszko National Park.
The Mountain Cattlemen's Association of Victoria (MCAV) president Cass McCormack said a three-pronged approach to feral horse management of trapping, running and mustering brumbie herds was needed.
"We support genetically diverse mobs of brumbies remaining in the Alpine landscape," she said.
"They should be all caught professionally and that from there, they are re-homed, where possible."
Ms McCormack said that farmers near Benambra, Omeo, and Dargo have to deal with horses as a part of the local landscape.
"They are much like deer and if left in uncontrolled numbers, they can present challenges for farmers that are also trying to run stock or manage the landscape," she said.
"But it is about managing the numbers that are there."
She said aerial culling in Kosciuszko National Park was "not something we support in any way shape, or form", but a balance had to be found in management.
"The concern of the MCAV is that it is an extremely emotive issue [and] it is very difficult to find a balance between what is good for the environment, what is good for the brumbies and what is good for Australia's heritage and cultural acknowledgement," she said.
It comes as a recent RMIT study suggests a link between feral horses and peatland carbon emissions.
Peatlands in the Australian Alps are mossy wetlands that contain carbon-rich peat soil.
These soils form from decomposed plants in wet, swampy environments and capture carbon through live moss and is one of the most effective natural carbon-capturing and storing ecosystems in the world.
The study looked at 12 peatlands in Kosciuszko National Park, sampled over seven days in March 2022 - seven sites with feral horses present and five without - and showed decreased water and soil quality in the areas with feral horses.
Lead author of the report Sarah Treby, said feral horses were a destructive pest in our uniquely vulnerable Australian ecosystems.
"Previous research has shown feral horses contribute to biodiversity loss and environmental degradation," Dr Treby said.
"Our study shows differences in overall site condition, as well as soil and water quality, between areas with and without feral horses.
"We found equal evidence of other large feral herbivores between the horse-present/horse-absent sites, so we know that differences in carbon emissions and site condition cannot be attributed to deer or pigs."
The researchers want to expand the study across a wider area of the Australian Alps over a longer period.
Parks Victoria has conducted aerial shooting of deer, feral pigs, and goats, but they have chosen to control feral horse numbers through capture, re-homing, and targeted ground shooting by professionals.
However, their 2021 Feral Horses Action Plan indicates that aerial shooting "may be considered in exceptional circumstances, or may be trialled if other methods fail to remove sufficient horses to reduce ecological impacts".
While counting horses in remote regions is difficult, a Parks Victoria 2021 survey showed about 250 horses are in the Bogong High Plains and about 2400 horses are in the Eastern Alps.
The same survey also estimates about 320 horses are in Barmah National Park.
Recent data published from the NSW government showed about 14,000 feral horses were present in the Kosciuszko National Park two years ago.
In early October, a federal parliamentary inquiry also recommended that aerial shooting resume in NSW.
