The NSW government has ruled out aerial shooting of brumbies in the Kosciuszko National Park, despite a recommendation from an internal report and calls from environmental groups to resume the practice.

A report by the Secretary of the Department of Planning and Environment released late last week found that, if current methods did not remove enough brumbies, alternative techniques with good welfare outcomes, including aerial shooting, might need to be considered.

Authorities in NSW have generally avoided shooting horses following an outcry in 2000 after shooters killed more than 600 of the animals in the Guy Fawkes River National Park. The practice is permitted on other feral animals, including pigs and deer. In other jurisdictions, including the ACT, aerial shooting is permitted.

The report made several recommendations about the park’s management plan. Among them was that continued monitoring of brumby removal was needed, and that alternative control methods be considered if it was falling short of the required numbers.

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“However, given the potential for welfare outcomes to be improved with the method, the feasibility and public acceptability should continue to be assessed, particularly in reviews of the plan,” it notes.

Jack Gough, acting conservation director at the Invasive Species Council, urged the government to conduct a limited trial of aerial shooting of feral horses overseen by independent animal welfare experts, such as the RSPCA.

“Every year the NSW government fails to meet targets to reduce the population the job gets harder and ultimately more feral horses have to be culled to protect our national park and our wildlife,” he said.

“In recent years Australians have become better informed about the damage that feral horses are doing to our wildlife and fragile alpine wetlands and streams. We have a choice to make between feral horses or a thriving national park. We can’t have both.