KNP WILD HORSES AERIAL SHOOTING (VIDEO)

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Currently there is an investigation into the “proposed” aerial shooting of wild horses in the KNP, by an ANIMAL WELFARE committee in the NSW Parliament.

We say “proposed” because as you may know there has already been what some members of the committee are referring to as a “trial” run of aerial shooting during foaling season.  (And yes, foals were shot and killed.)

We would like to thank Emma Hurst of the Animal Justice Party who is the chair and was a key player in bringing about this committee and public hearing.

Ms Tara Ward

A lawyer with  Animal Defenders  — Ms Tara Ward  — in the video above makes the excellent point that there is an inherent contradiction between caring for wild animals and shooting wild horses violently and inhumanely.

She cites the example of some horses being chased by 3 helicopters and shot for a total of 9 minutes.

Ms Ward also states that almost all shots did not render the animal insensible.

We think you’ll agree as you watch the video it appears that Minister Sharpe was able to make the decision to order an aerial cull without any kind of oversight.

We’ve included the FULL video recording of the first session of the public hearing BELOW.  It is 7 hours and 25 minutes.

You’re probably thinking “YIKES”, right?

But don’t worry, we watched the whole session and we’ve picked out parts that we think are the most interesting.

(There is a section where the video keeps running and you won’t see anyone because they’ve gone to morning tea, or lunch, etc. but fast forward or rewind a bit and you’ll see participants testifying.)

We’ve included a list below featuring what we think are key moments — it is important to note that not every speaker who attended is represented on the following list.

We’ve also included a few key notes as you scroll further down.

A SPECIAL NOTE:  Be sure to watch the very SHORT  VIDEO ABOVE for what we think is a great overview of why this hearing is important.

Penny Sharpe, continues to advocate for aerial shooting and other methods of culling of wild horses.

Minister Sharpe's titles include, Minister for Climate Change, Minister for Energy, Minister for the Environment, and Minister for Heritage.

We encourage you to contact Minister Sharpe here to make your views about this inhumane practice known.

An email or phone call only needs to take 2 minutes - and you can even call after hours and leave a message.

Atticus Fleming, Richard Swain and Jack Gough, are other key players seen and heard in the longer video above pushing for the  inhumane aerial shooting of wild horses.

Normally, Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) are laid out and made available for the public before a culling of wild horses occurs.

That was not our understanding of what happened when it came to the aerial culling that occured on December 18, 2023.

It is our understanding that the SOP was not made public until it was tabled by Minister Penny Sharpe during the hearing (the full recording above), one month after the aerial cull.  Again, NOT before the aerial shooting.

Meaning that they needed to be shot in the heart which as you can see from the included graphics – is literally impossible to do from above, from a helicopter especially as horses are panicking and running for their lives.  (We refer you back to the 4 minute video above.)

Perhaps even worse Minister Penny Sharpe and Atticus Fleming acknowledged the aerial cull was done during foaling season.

They then tried to claim that they had to shoot foals that were left alone because mares abandoned their foals.

That may have been the case because horses are flight animals and when terrified  they will run for their lives. With as many as 3 helicopters hunting them down,  can you imagine the terror they experienced?

It is also likely that foals were found alone because their mothers had been shot.  And again, foals were then shot.

Who would have the heart to shoot a foal? Is there anything humane about the above scenario?

Minister Penny Sharpe said that an annual survey was conducted in October and according to the survey there were between just under 13,000 and 22,000 wild horses in the park.

She states that the confidence interval of that survey is 95%.  (You will find that at the 4:45 minute mark of the full session video above.)

What is a confidence interval?

A confidence interval is integral to statistics and determines if an estimate is reliable.

For example, in the count mentioned above, Minister Sharpe states the confidence interval as being 95%.

That would mean that if the count was repeated 100 times it would yield the same result 95 times.

Stuart Cairns found in his 2019 survey between 12,000 and 22,000 horses.

Well, we’d like to know what is it?

Is it 12,000 or 22,000?

We’re sure you’d agree that’s a very big spread which makes not only us — but also the University of St Andrews question the accuracy of his counts.

As a matter of fact, the University of St Andrews, who developed the software used in the 2019 survey by Cairns refused to peer review his research.

The reason?

Because Cairns claimed the population of wild horses in the park grew by 41% in a year.

The University knew that was impossible because it would have meant that each mare would have foaled at least 7 foals in a year. Of course as most people know the gestation period for a horse is 11 months and wild horses generally only have 1 foal every other year.

Claire Galea, Independent Biostatistician explained how the cull is based on numbers that are inaccurate. (See the 2:47 mark in the full video above.)

Again the designer (University of St Andrews) of the software used to come up with the extreme numbers of wild horses refused to peer review Stuart Cairns’ numbers.

In other words the cruel and inhumane cull was based on flawed counts of wild horses in the KNP.

Minister Penny Sharpe gives a great example of doublethink (13 minute mark) where she claims that if horses are killed now then future horses will not have to suffer.

It appears that killing horses in an inhumane manner now saves future horses from a cruel fate later. So it appears in her mind that inhumane treatment of wild horses is somehow justified.

Therefore, it is doublethink because being cruel now means that in the future horses will not have to suffer cruelty.

Cruelty is ok now — but not in the future?

Talk about cognitive dissonance. (That is where 2 ideas in conflict with each other are held by an individual.)

There were a lot of questions raised on the video about the RSPCA being involved in the cull as an ‘independent observer’.

That means that there is possible conflict of interest because if cruelty was observed by them, how would they then be in a position to prosecute?

You can learn about this “angle” by watching and listening to the RSPCA CEO NSW Steven Coleman at the 4:30 mark in the video above.

Jack Gough and Richard Swain of the Invasive Species Council testified at the 5:19 mark.

Jack and Richard mention that they have been lobbying various government officials and promoting what they say is a need for public funds to be spent on aerial shooting of wild horses.

The interesting thing about this statement – other than that they think public funding should be spent in this way –  is that we do not see either gentleman or their organisation, the Invasive Species Council, on the list of registered lobbyists. We could be wrong but we’ve looked and we don’t see them.

Penny Sharpe, continues to advocate for aerial shooting and other methods of culling of wild horses.

Again, we encourage you to contact Minister Sharpe here to make your views about this inhumane practice known.

An email or phone call only needs to take 2 minutes – and you can even call after hours and leave a message.