Police investigate shooting deaths of two horses in NSW alps

NSW Police is investigating the discovery of two wild horse carcasses in Kosciuszko National Park.

Reports that they were found shot dead in the park, close to the Snowy Mountains Highway, emerged this week.

Snowy Mountains photographer Michelle Brown said her husband, Ian, found the horses on Wednesday afternoon, after a friend of theirs spotted them last weekend.

"I was devastated," she said.

"All our brumbies mean the world to us … they live their lives in the mountains, they should be left in peace."

A spokesperson from the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) said the horses were not shot by its staff and did not form part of any authorised NPWS control program.

"The carcasses were found outside the designated area for NPWS control of feral animals, including deer, horses and pigs," the spokesperson said.

Under investigation

The Browns have been photographing wild horses in the park for over a decade.

Ms Brown said one of the horses shot was known as Matagi, and the other was its offspring.

Ms Brown said Matagi will be "terribly missed".

"We've been photographing him pretty much every time we've been up the mountains," she said.

"He's a very solitary stallion … he usually sticks up high away from the road."

The NSW NPWS referred reports of the two dead horses to NSW Police.

Officers from the Monaro Police District are now investigating.

Anyone with information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers.

Aerial shooting is currently underway in Kosciuszko National Park as part of a management program to control feral animals, including wild horses.

The NSW government is required to reduce the number of horses to 3,000 by mid-2027.

The latest peer-reviewed survey of the animals found between 6,000 and 16,000 horses remain in the park, marking an increase from 12 months prior.

The population increase prompted the state government to announce the resumption of aerial shooting as one available control to reach the 3,000 target.

Civil proceedings were launched this month in the Supreme Court of NSW against the NSW Minister for the Environment by brumby advocate Roxanne Phoenix, in a bid to stop aerial shooting of feral horses.

However, today the proceedings were discontinued due to "jurisdiction," with the case expected to be filed in the NSW Land and Environment Court at a later date.