Aerial culling declared humane

By Caddie Brain  
Tuesday Aug 13, 2013   

ABC Rural

Photo: Horse carcasses lie in a dry waterhole in central Australia,
in February 2013. (Supplied: Central Land Council)

   Audio: Study finds aerial culling of feral horses humane (ABC Rural)      

The first animal welfare study of aerial culling ever undertaken in Australia, has found it to be a humane method of controlling feral populations.

Although not yet publicly released, the study comes as a result of recent controversy in the Northern Territory over plans by the Central Land Council to cull large numbers of feral horses on Aboriginal Land.
About 3,500 feral horses were shot from two helicopters over five days in May, on the Tempe Downs Station, about 300 kilometres south west of Alice Springs, in hope of preventing further damage to waterholes and cultural sites.
Sam Rando from the Central Land Council says two vets assessed the shooting of over 2000 horses, and performed autopsies on about 100 to complete the study.
"The average time to death was eight seconds and 58 per cent of those 2000-odd horses died instantaneously," he said.
"They also measured the pursuit time - that's the time that the horses respond to the distant sound of helicopters approaching them - and the average time was 73 seconds."
Sam Rando says the shooters aim for three target areas, the cranium, thorax and neck.
"The vet recorded that 97 per cent of the animals were shot in one of those three target areas," he said.
"There's never been any evidence to date about the humaneness of different control methods.
"Certainly with ground based shooting for example, there's been numerous studies here and overseas, that all report a substantially high level of animals that are wounded but survive.
"In terms of animal welfare issues, that's probably the worst outcome.
"These vets that we had on Tempe Downs reported a zero wounding rate, which was fantastic for us.
"It's reassuring that aerial culling of feral horses allows for a far shorter period of suffering than the other control methods available to us."
The study was undertaken in collaboration with the Northern Territory Parks and Wildlife Commission and a Melbourne-based ecological business at a cost of about $40 per head.
It's long been suspected that the horses on Tempe Downs Station were a heritage breed known as 'waler' horses, five of which arrived in Australia with the First Fleet in 1788.
Descendants from these horses played a big part in opening up the land and spread throughout Australia.
Back in May, news of the cull prompted the Waler Horse Society of Australia to organise a petition of over 24,000 signatures trying to stop the cull.
But Sam Rando says the Central Land Council has found no evidence the horses are actually walers.
"Our research has failed to come up with any link with waler horses unlike The Garden and other properties," he said.
"But irrespective of whether people feel there's some cultural value of a particular type of horses, as far as I'm concerned it's irrelevant.
"The animal welfare issue is the same."
The Central Land Council says it is monitoring the property, and are looking at long-term management strategies that may reduce the need for further culling in the future.
"No-one wants to have to undertake such a full-on measure every five years to a decade," Sam Rando said.
"Once the feral horse issue is under control there are still 800 head of cattle on the property.
"People are interested in that, and are talking about the tourism potential.
"There's also the possibility of ranger groups there.
"A lot of places on Aboriginal land have huge potential, it's realising it that takes a lot of work."

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-08-13/animal-welfare-horse-culling/4873726