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Mr. Lyall Sempf's Rebuttal to the English Report
Rebuttal to the English Report of 15 Nov 2000 Regarding Guy Fawkes River National Park Brumby SlaughterSection 1 NPWS claims to have culled 606 feral horses. I heard that the RSPCA counted about 224 dead brumbies. I can only guess that maybe 400 brumbies were shot - only a guess. I spent a lot of my time in there sitting behind "hides", armed with binoculars, note book , pen and biscuits. I did see much of the park in one of my trips there, but never really had an idea from my trips about the total number of brumbies in there. Section 3 Bicentennial trail is also known as the National trail. Section 16 Horses doing very well in much of Australia, including arid and semi-arid regions. This is true. This is why the brumbies were not in the poor and desperate condition that is claimed later in the report. Section 17 Environmental damage by brumbies noted in GFRNP. There have been brumbies in the park for all of last century. The erosion that is there is not overly bad, considering it has taken 100 or so years to produce it, plus from major cattle movements pre 1972. I have not noted any more damage in the Lockyer State Forest from brumby movement since I was a teenager going up there. They do cause erosion and damage if numbers are too large. I have seen this. At the NPWS meeting that I attended at Dorrigo in February a local resident voiced concern over NPWS blaming brumbies for erosion just because a horse print may have been seen near an erosion point. Section 26 Helicopter shooting is considered to be the only practical method for quick, large-scale and humane culling of large animals in inaccessible locations Unacceptable comment. Section 27 Shooting from helicopters should be conducted by experienced government shooters or certified private individuals trained and operating under strict guidelines. In New South Wales this training takes the form of the Feral Animal Aerial Shooter Training Course (FAAST Course) ... I have been unable to get a copy of the FAAST course. NPWS will not reply to my request for information on this. Aerial shooting being a vital tool in the control of exotic diseases. I would hope that no state government would introduce an exotic disease deliberately, or fabricate some kind of crisis for them to justify aerial shooting of all wild horses in Australia. Section 31 Regular aerial inspection figures of brumbies from 1992. No figure was quoted for 1997. While in the park in January 1998, I was quoted by a ranger in there at the time that a recent aerial count revealed 350 brumbies and that he thought that there were probably about 500 brumbies if allowance was made for those missed in the fly over. I wonder how much selective information is used in this report, and how much of it is fabricated. Section 33 The large number of horses encountered on 22 October was a surprise to all concerned. This is not true in light of the fact that 350 were counted ( and an estimate of 500 ) prior to January 1998. Section 34 Study by Andreoni in 1998. Government agencies generally have the funds to finance any study that they like, and produce results that suit their goals and agendas. Someone said the English Report is a prime example of this. Section 35 Compounded by the fires I have a photo taken just after the cull which shows green grass growing back. It didn’t just start in the weeks following when rain fell. Section 42 Significant animal welfare concerns in relation to the techniques that were used, despite the involvement of experienced local horsemen and experienced service staff. This is true but at times the advice of experienced local horsemen wasn’t always taken. Brumbies were dragged behind vehicles on one ocassion against advice given not to do this. Section 48 The horses were in very poor condition This is an absolute lie. Also some grass was growing back at the time of the cull. Section 49 It became apparent that conditions were developing wereby an aerial cull of the horses was arguably the only way to achieve a significant reduction in their numbers in a reasonable time frame, thereby preventing the suffering and slow death of many of the due to starvation. This is fairy tale material. If NPWS were so concerned about the brumbies suffering and experiencing a slow death due to starvation then the RSPCA should have been consulted. Australia is a country known for its droughts and harsh conditions. Australia’s native animals are well adapted for these conditions, and wild horses do very well in Australia in dry and harsh times as mentioned in section 16 of this report. My daughters little brumby is a prime example of the toughness bred into the Australian brumby. He does quite well in the winter when food is scarce. He only needs a small amount of hand feeding to keep him in top condition. Section 57 The use of the Incident Controller ( IC ) ensuring that there is effective command and control throughout the activity, and that he ensures that adequate resources are made available for the task at hand. There definitely were not enough resources to ensure that there were no people/civillians in the park. Australia’s famous Bicentennial ( National )Trail runs through the park. This is one of the many tourism aspects of Australia. And to find two ladies, and on horseback too, in the culling zone is frightening. See also Section 60. Section 59 After the event it would have been prudent to have informed the RSPCA and have them involved in discussions about the "acute" animal welfare etc. The fact is that they didn’t plan on being caught. And to not inform the local landowners of such an operation is disgraceful. The local land owners go in there from time to time in search of their straying cattle. I have met a few in there at times. Anyway we know that they could not have informed the local landowners for this operation to go ahead, because if they did then their secret would have been out and no cull like this would have taken place. Section 60 I met this experienced local person mentioned here while I was in the park in December 2000. He was getting his cattle out of the park. He would know this country like the back of his hand. I never advised him of my reason for being in the park. ( I didn’t find out about his involvement in the October slaughter until a few weeks later ). I fished for any comments from him about the October cull. All I got was that he said that the park was miles overstocked with horses. His partner didn’t comment. I found out a few weeks later that his partner was against the cruelty of the slaughter. It really is amazing that our paths crossed. These two horse riders who were camping at Kittys Creek were ladies from New South Wales. This area is where Kittys creek meets the Guy Fawkes River. It is an area of real beauty. They were riding along our famous National Trail. Section 62 emphasis on both human safety and animal welfare. I think maybe only emphasis on safety of NPWS staff Section 64 emphasis placed on achieving a humane kill. I wonder? So does this webmaster. Section 66 The "fly back rule" was confirmed, which ensured that not only was each horse confirmed as dead by both pilot and shooter before the next horse was targeted, but also that the group was flown over again and closely examined to ensure that all were dead, before a new group was sought. I have been trying to find out about the FAAST course and this "fly back rule" but have had no success yet. Section 75 When horses were killed closer than 300 metres to the river, their carcasses were moved away by helicopter. I found 2 carcasses less than 300m from the river near Sawpit creek hut. So much for their recording of kill locations by GPS (global positioning system). Webmaster's note: Carcasses left close to bodies of water are generally regarded as environmental and public health hazards. All personnel later confirmed that the horses invariably moved along the pad in single file, and mostly did not panic. It was appparent that they were not particularly concerned by the helicopters, probably because they had become accustomed to their regular presence during the fires. I emailed the Dorrigo office and asked them if the brumbies were wearing some sort of ear protection during the cull, and said that this question was no more rediculous than the horses not panicing. I can’t imagine any wild horse being chased by a helicopter with guns firing, and not panicing. Foals were always shot first before their dams, as required by FAAST protocol. I sincerely hope this was the case. I had concerns of young foals escaping and then starving to death because there was no mother. I am not the only who shared this concern. Section 77 Regarding type of bullets used. I heard that military bullets were used but I can’t confirm this. It may be just a rumour. Section 89 Conclusions (To expansive to copy. Please see Dr. English's Report.) I will let you make your own conlclusions about this. Section 90 Recommendations (To expansive to copy. Please see Dr. English's Report.) Draw your own conclusions here. That the recent stark images of shot horses, and the emotive language used by some commentators, must be countered by effective education concerning the threatening processes confronting our native fauna. I sure got emotional when I saw these images.
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