Australia to Restart 'Essential' Aerial Shooting of Wild Horses

A woman holds a placard during a protest over the proposed culling of wild Australian horses in 2020. William WEST / AFP
A woman holds a placard during a protest over the proposed culling of wild Australian horses in 2020. William WEST / AFP
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Australia to Restart 'Essential' Aerial Shooting of Wild Horses

A woman holds a placard during a protest over the proposed culling of wild Australian horses in 2020. William WEST / AFP
A woman holds a placard during a protest over the proposed culling of wild Australian horses in 2020. William WEST / AFP

Australia approved on Friday the aerial shooting of wild horses in one of the country's largest national parks, resuming a contentious practice that authorities described as "essential" to protect native wildlife.

An estimated 19,000 wild horses -- known locally as "brumbies" -- live in Kosciuszko National Park, a number that has increased by a third in the last two years.

New South Wales state authorities want to cut the population to 3,000 by mid-2027, AFP said.

The national park already traps, re-homes and shoots horses from the ground, but the state's environment minister Penny Sharpe said this was not enough.

"Threatened native species are in danger of extinction and the entire ecosystem is under threat," she said. "We must take action.
"This was not an easy decision -- no one wants to have to kill wild horses," she added.
Aerial shooting from helicopters was used for a brief period in 2000, when more than 600 wild horses were shot over three days.
But a fierce public backlash resulted in the method being banned.
Those against culling say the horses are part of Australia's national identity, a nostalgic reminder of the days when tough stockmen and women worked in the country's rugged Snowy Mountains.
Brumbies are thought to have descended from horses that escaped or were abandoned around the early 1800s.
A storied rugby team in the country's capital Canberra is named after the animal.
They were celebrated by the Australian "bush poet" Banjo Paterson, who waxed lyrical about a "wild, unhandled" creature who roamed the mountains "'neath moon and star".
But early farmers had a less romantic view: they saw the animals as pests that ruined fences and competed with livestock for feed.
It is a view echoed by conservationists, who say the horses destroy native plants through grazing and trampling, increase soil erosion, foul waterholes, and cause the collapse of wildlife burrows.
"The unique and complex ecosystems of the Australian Alps have been trampled for too long," said Jacqui Mumford, head of the Nature Conservation Council, an environmental group.
She said brumbies' activities damaged "at least 25 threatened alpine flora and 14 threatened alpine fauna species, including the iconic corroboree frog, the broad-toothed rat and rare alpine orchids".
Australia has up to 400,000 feral horses, according to the Invasive Species Council, a conservation group that has welcomed the decision to resume aerial shooting.
The group's advocacy manager, Jack Gough, said the brumby population in New South Wales was growing at a rate of between 15 and 18 percent a year.
The number of wild horses being removed through the current methods was "well below" the population growth rate, he added.



Billy Crystal, Mandy Moore Among Those who Lost Homes in Los Angeles Fires

A blackened US flag flies above a charred structure after the passage of the Palisades Fire in Pacific Palisades, California, on January 8, 2025. (Photo by AGUSTIN PAULLIER / AFP)
A blackened US flag flies above a charred structure after the passage of the Palisades Fire in Pacific Palisades, California, on January 8, 2025. (Photo by AGUSTIN PAULLIER / AFP)
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Billy Crystal, Mandy Moore Among Those who Lost Homes in Los Angeles Fires

A blackened US flag flies above a charred structure after the passage of the Palisades Fire in Pacific Palisades, California, on January 8, 2025. (Photo by AGUSTIN PAULLIER / AFP)
A blackened US flag flies above a charred structure after the passage of the Palisades Fire in Pacific Palisades, California, on January 8, 2025. (Photo by AGUSTIN PAULLIER / AFP)

Fires burning in and around Los Angeles have claimed the homes of numerous celebrities, including Billy Crystal, Mandy Moore and Paris Hilton and led to sweeping disruptions of entertainment events.
Three awards ceremonies planned for this weekend have been postponed. Next week's Oscar nominations have been delayed. And tens of thousands of Angelenos are displaced and awaiting word Thursday on whether their homes survived the flames — some of them the city's most famous denizens, The Associated Press reported.
More than 1,900 structures have been destroyed and the number is expected to increase. More than 130,000 people are also under evacuation orders in the metropolitan area, from the Pacific Coast inland to Pasadena, a number that continues to shift as new fires erupt.
Late Wednesday, a fire in the Hollywood Hills was scorching the hills near the famed Hollywood Bowl and Dolby Theatre, which is the home of the Academy Awards.
Here are how the fires are impacting celebrities and the Los Angeles entertainment industry:
Stars whose homes have burned in the fires Celebrities like Crystal and his wife, Janice, were sharing memories of the homes they lost.
The Crystals lost the home in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood that they lived in for 45 years.
“Janice and I lived in our home since 1979. We raised our children and grandchildren here. Every inch of our house was filled with love. Beautiful memories that can’t be taken away. We are heartbroken of course but with the love of our children and friends we will get through this,” the Crystals wrote in the statement.
Mandy Moore lost her home in the Altadena neighborhood roughly 30 miles east of the Palisades.
“Honestly, I’m in shock and feeling numb for all so many have lost, including my family. My children’s school is gone. Our favorite restaurants, leveled. So many friends and loved ones have lost everything too,” Moore wrote on Instagram in a post that included video of devastated streets in the foothill suburb.
“Our community is broken but we will be here to rebuild together. Sending love to all affected and on the front lines trying to get this under control,” Moore wrote.
Hilton posted a news video clip on Instagram and said it included footage of her destroyed home in Malibu. “This home was where we built so many precious memories. It’s where Phoenix took his first steps and where we dreamed of building a lifetime of memories with London,” she said, referencing her young children."
Elwes, the star of “The Princess Bride” and numerous other films, wrote on Instagram Wednesday that his family was safe but their home had burned in the coastal Palisades fire. “Sadly we did lose our home but we are grateful to have survived this truly devastating fire,” Elwes wrote.
The blazes have thrown Hollywood's carefully orchestrated awards season into disarray.
Awards ceremonies planned for this weekend have been postponed due to the fires. The AFI Awards, which were set to honor “Wicked,” “Anora” and other awards season contenders, had been scheduled for Friday.
The AARP Movies for Grownups Awards, which honor movies and television shows that resonate with older audiences, were set for Friday but have been postponed.
The Critics Choice Awards, originally scheduled for Sunday, have been postponed until Feb. 26.
Each of the shows feature projects that are looking for any advantage they can get in the Oscar race and were scheduled during the Academy Awards voting window.
The Oscar nominations are also being delayed two days to Jan. 19 and the film academy has extended the voting window to accommodate members affected by the fires.