page_title: Brumby
section_title: Origin of feral herds
hierarchical_section_title: Brumby / History / Origin of feral herds
caption_attribution_description: One of the better types of brumbies that was caught in the Apsley River Gorge, now in the Oxley Wild Rivers National Park. He was badly malnourished when captured.
context_page_description: A Brumby is a free-roaming feral horse in Australia. Although found in many areas around the country, the best-known Brumbies are found in the Australian Alps region. Today, most of them are found in the Northern Territory, with the second largest population in Queensland. A group of Brumbies is known as a "mob" or "band".
  Brumbies are the descendants of escaped or lost horses, dating back in some cases to those belonging to the early European settlers. Today they live in many places, including some National Parks, notably Alpine National Park in Victoria, Barrington Tops National Park in NSW, and Carnarvon National Park in Queensland. Occasionally they are mustered and domesticated for use as campdrafters, working stock horses on farms or stations, but also as trail horses, show horses, Pony Club mounts and pleasure horses. They are the subject of some controversy – regarded as a pest and threat to native ecosystems by environmentalists and the government, but also valued by others as part of Australia's heritage, with supporters working to prevent inhumane treatment or extermination, and rehoming Brumbies who have been captured.
context_section_description: Horses were likely confined primarily to the Sydney region until the early 19th century, when settlers first crossed the Blue Mountains and opened expansion inland. Horses were required for travel, and for cattle and sheep droving as the pastoral industry grew. The first report of an escaped horse is in 1804, and by the 1840s some horses had escaped from settled regions of Australia. It is likely that some escaped because fences were not properly installed, when fences existed at all, but it is believed that most Australian horses became feral because they were released into the wild and left to fend for themselves. This may have been the result of pastoralists abandoning their settlements, and thus their horses, due to the arid conditions and unfamiliar land that combined to make farming in Australia especially difficult. After World War I, the demand for horses by defence forces declined with the growth in mechanization, which led to a growth in the number of unwanted animals that were often set free. Throughout the 20th century, the replacement of horses with machines in farming led to further reductions in demand, and may have also contributed to increases in feral populations.
  Currently, Australia has at least 400,000 horses roaming the continent. It is also estimated that, during non-drought periods, the feral horse population increases at a rate of 20 percent per year. Drought conditions and brushfires are natural threats. Despite population numbers, feral horses are generally considered to be a moderate pest. Where they are allowed to damage vegetation and cause erosion, the impact on the environment is significant, and for that reason can be considered a serious environmental threat. However, because they also have cultural and potential economic value, the management of Brumbies presents a complex issue.
  Brumbies roaming in the Australian Alps of south-eastern Australia are thought to be descendants of horses which were owned by the pastoralist and pioneer, Benjamin Boyd. Feral horses in Barmah National Park mainly originate from stock released by a local horse breeder after 1952, there was no significant long term population of "wild" horses in the park area prior to this date.
caption: A Brumby that was caught in the Apsley River Gorge.
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