Taming The Brumby: Finding A New Home For Australia's Wild Horses

KOSCIUSZKO NATIONAL PARK, AUSTRALIA - AUGUST 24: A small herd of Brumbies affectionally named ‘the welcoming committee’ by local horse watchers, move through a patch of Snow Gums in the Long Plains area of the Kosciuszko National Park on August 24, 2020 in Kosciuszko National Park, Australia. Free-roaming feral horses, known as Brumbies, are found across Australia. Believed to be descended from animals imported by early Bitish colonialists, the Brumby population is estimated to be in the thousands, with the highest concentration of horses roaming Australia's alpine region, which straddles the state border of Victoria and New South Wales. With large numbers of Brumbies trampling through protected National Parks, their fate has long been a subject of heated debate. On one side are those that want the total eradication of the animals - those who consider them a feral, invasive and destructive species. At the other end are those that advocate for the protection of what are viewed as "heritage animals", so named for their role in the mythology of the high country, immortalised in poems such as Banjo Paterson's 'The Man from Snowy River'. In New South Wales the current policy approach is an attempt at finding a middle ground. National Parks New South Wales authorities are currently reducing Brumby numbers via the 'passive capture' of the animals - horses are lured with food into gated traps. The animals are then taken to a holding area before being sent out for 're-homing'. Nikki Alberts, who runs 'White Alpine Equine' in Adaminaby is a re-homing volunteer, who takes on the expense of housing and breaking in Brumbies that come to her. Nikki has just taken on six new wild Brumbies, alongside another two she has been working with since late October 2019. (Photo by Brook Mitchell/Getty Images)