Brumby Wars, The: The battle for the soul of Australia

AUSTRALIAN FAUNA AUSTRALIANA
This is a book about Australia’s wild horses – brumbies – and the intense culture war that has erupted around their future. Walkley Award-winning journalist Anthony Sharwood encountered brumbies firsthand while trekking the Australian Alps Walking Track for his acclaimed 2020 book, From Snow to Ash. As he started to investigate the issue and spent time with people on both sides of the debate, he realised that for all of them, there is so much more at stake than horses. For those enraptured by the legend of the Man from Snowy River, descendants of cattle families and many Australians in urban and regional areas, brumbies are a symbol of wildness, freedom and a vanishing way of life. To ecologists and people who ski, walk and fish in the High Country and other areas where the brumbies proliferate, they are a menace that must be removed to save delicate landscapes. Something has to give. But what? The land or the horses? The Brumby Wars is a riveting account of this major national issue and the very human passions it inspires. It is also a quest to find Common ground in our increasingly polarised country.

It’s not just a war over horses. It’s a battle for the soul of Australia. This is a book about the intense culture war raging around Australia’s wild horses, known as brumbies. It pits a vision of the legendary Man from Snowy River and the iconic ANZAC Light Horse against the spectre of ecosystems destroyed by feral pests. The debate involves powerful politicians and media commentators, and stars an animal mythologised in Australian poetry and prose. But in essence, this is about us. The Brumby Wars is about Australians at war with each other over their vision of an ideal Australia. To ecologists and people who ski, walk and fish in the High Country and other areas where the brumbies proliferate, they are a feral menace which must be removed to save delicate alpine landscapes. To the descendants of cattle families and many Australians in urban and regional areas, brumbies are untouchable, a symbol of wildness and freedom. Something has to give. But what? The land or the horses? This war is set to escalate dramatically before we have an answer. Featuring interviews with characters from all sides of the debate, The Brumby Wars is the riveting account of a major national issue and the very human passions it inspires. It is also a journey, a quest to understand what makes us tick in our increasingly polarised country.
308 pages ; 24 cm. #020523 First Edition
‘For the sake of our country’
The real man from Snowy River
‘The last little bit we’ve got’
Fawkes news
The running of the brumbies
They eat horses, don’t they?
Shifting the goalposts
The Trojan brumby
The Yorta Yorta, the water, and the horse slaughter
Irregular and rash
The battle of Long Plain
‘We love our horses but we love our country more’.
Wild horses — Australia — History. | Wild horses — Environmental aspects — Australia. | Wild horses — Social aspects — Australia. | Wild horses — Australia — Alpine Region. | Wildlife conservation — Australia. | Wild horses — Control — Government policy — New South Wales — Snowy Mountains Region. | Wild horses — Control — Social aspects — New South Wales — Snowy Mountains Region. | Wild horses — Control — Environmental aspects — New South Wales — Snowy Mountains Region. | Wild horses — Management. — New South Wales — Snowy Mountains Region | Environmental protection — New South Wales — Snowy Mountains Region. | Environmental protection — Australia. | Introduced animals — Environmental aspects — Australia. | Ranchers — Australia. | Alpine regions — New South Wales — Social life and customs. | Snowy Mountains Region (N.S.W.) | Australia. | New South Wales — Snowy Mountains. | Snowy Mountains (N.S.W.) | Conservation of the environment (Australia) | Horses (Australia) | Natural history – general (Australia) | Australian