Aerial shooting ends after thousands of brumbies culled

The contentious shooting of wild horses from helicopters has been paused after the culling of thousands of brumbies from an alpine national park.

While ground shooting is likely to continue, aerial shooting is no longer required in the Kosciuszko National Park after being used to cut feral horse numbers to about 3000.

Trapping and rehoming programs will remain active while officials investigate reproductive controls to stop a "boom and bust" cycle in brumby populations, NSW Environment Minister Penny Sharpe told a budget estimates hearing on Monday.

"To actually have them shot from helicopters is not needed anymore," she said.

Aerial shooting will continue to target brumbies and other invasive pests in other national parks around the state.

Between 3000 and 4000 brumbies are believed to remain in Kosciuszko National Park after a population count in October, but the release of an official number has been delayed while the figures are reviewed.

But nearly 9000 horses had been removed through shooting or rehoming, Ms Sharpe said.

Efforts would continue to keep brumby levels sustainable and to strengthen counting methods.

"This is not about getting the numbers down and then just letting them get back up again," the minister said.

"We can get into what we want to do, which is actually manage that population, do the work on reproductive control and see where that takes us."

The government had a legislated target to bring brumby numbers in the national park to about 3000 by mid-2027.

The feral horses have been targeted over concerns they are pushing several, unique native species towards extinction.

Invasive Species Council interim chief executive Jack Gough backed continued controls.

"Natural population growth of feral horses is about 18 per cent per year, meaning that the government will need to get below the 3000 target in order to ensure they don't overshoot it by 2027," he said.

"For the sake of our precious wildlife and sensitive alpine ecosystems we urge minister Sharpe to err on the side of caution and use the upper limit of the population estimate so that there can be no doubt."

Aerial brumby shooting resumed in NSW under the state Labor government in November 2023, reversing policies in place under the former coalition administration.

The previous government's approach sought to protect the "heritage value" of the horses and prioritised passive trapping and rehoming over culling, leading to an explosion in brumby numbers.

Aerial shooting was unsuccessfully fought through the courts by a local pro-brumby group, which questioned the validity of official counts that put the population at between 14,500 and 23,500 in 2022.

The government is investigating the use of heat-sensing cameras to improve the accuracy of its count as the number of brumbies is reduced.