09-05-2025
Barmah National Park grasslands thriving after removal of feral horses
Standing on the banks of Barmah Lake, you might spot spoonbills, pelicans and egrets bathing at the water's edge.
It would be just a glimpse of the 270 animal species and 500 native plants that live in Barmah National Park — a landscape that has started to thrive since the controversial decision to remove its population of wild horses.
The park sits on Yorta Yorta country, stretching across the flood plains of the Murray River in northern Victoria.
It is part of the largest river red gum forest in the world and home to internationally recognised wetlands.
The native vegetation has started to regenerate since the horses were removed, much to the delight of local ecologists.
However, community tensions remain as locals bear the scars of an emotional fight to protect the iconic landscape.
Wetland ecologist Keith Ward has been working in the Barmah Forest for more than 30 years.
Mr Ward, an environmental reserve manager with the Goulburn Broken Catchment Management Authority (GBCMA), said the flood plain marsh had bounced back astoundingly since the brumbies' removal.
He said the local Moira grass had been on the brink of extinction, as it was particularly vulnerable to grazing and trampling by horses.
"We believe we only had less than 5 per cent left [compared to] what was present 80 years earlier," Mr Ward said.
He said the grass was one of the reasons the park was listed as one of Australia's 65 Ramsar protected wetlands.
"Waterbirds love it, they nest, they feed among it — you'll see schools of small fish through it, frogs love it," he said.
To illustrate the damage feral horses were doing to the flood plain vegetation, the GBCMA created exclusion zones.
They believe the results were clear.
"With the right environmental flow and the suppression of pest animals, I think we're going to see some magical landscape change over the decades to come," Mr Ward said.
Parks Victoria removed more than 700 horses from the park between January 2020 to October 2024.
Of those, 620 were removed by ground shooting, 43 were rehomed and 48 were euthanased following welfare checks.
A small number of horses remain in the park.
Parks Victoria said none of the horses had been sent to knackeries.
"Over the past five years we have seen significant recovery of the Moira grass plains, which is a key indicator for ecosystem health," a spokesperson said.
"Parks Victoria will continue its work towards the long-term goal of reducing the feral horse population in Barmah to zero."
Barmah National Park is co-managed by Parks Victoria and the traditional owners of the Yorta Yorta Nation Aboriginal Corporation.
Last year, the corporation was found to have been racially vilified by a pro-brumby group from the neighbouring town of Picola.
That group, which worked to rehome feral horses, is set to close this year due to financial pressures.
The group's president, Julie Pridmore, declined an ABC interview request, but said the organisation had a large hay debt and property lease due in June that it could not afford.
The Yorta Yorta Aboriginal Corporation and Parks Victoria both turned down requests for interviews due to concerns for staff safety.
David Watson, a professor of ecology at Charles Sturt University, said lingering tensions over the brumby debate had serious impacts.
He said his researchers removed university identification before going into the park.
"I get where a lot of the brumby advocates come from — they love horses, and I love horses too.
"As the bush bounces back, everyone will get to see what a wonderful place this is, and that horses belong in a paddock and not in a protected area."
For Mr Ward, seeing the environment bounce back has reinforced why national parks are important.
He said the space was important not only ecologically, but as part of Australia's history.
The GBCMA will continue to use environmental water flows to maintain the natural flood regime of the area.
It plans to flood the forest in winter and spring every year to replicate the natural flooding of the Murray River.
"This was a prime area where the lakes and the river supported a big population of Indigenous people for a long time," Mr Ward said.
"To save these types of things and reinforce their value is immeasurable."
