Brumby

A brumby is a free-roaming feral horse in Australia. Although found in many areas around the country, with a national population of at least 400,000 identified in a 2011 survey, the most widely known brumby population is found in the Australian Alps region. As of 2018, the largest density of brumbies were located in the Northern Territory, with the second-largest population in Queensland. Brumbies originated with domestic horses which escaped from their owners or were otherwise lost, with some brumby lineages dating back to the early European colonial settlements. Brumby populations are found throughout Australia, including in several National Parks, such as Alpine National Park in Victoria, Barrington Tops National Park and Kosciuszko National Park in NSW, and Carnarvon National Park in Queensland. Occasionally they are mustered and tamed for use as campdrafters, working stock horses on farms or stations, but also as trail horses, show horses, Pony Club mounts and pleasure horses. Environmental and government research surveys have identified brumby populations as threats to native ecosystems, leading to drives to exterminate brumbies from threatened areas. These efforts have been met with pushback and controversy from some members of the Australian public who view the culling of the feral horses as inhumane, and who may also view brumbies as part of Australia's European Colonial heritage. Some anti-culling groups have formed to promote efforts to rehome, rather than exterminate, captured brumbies.