10 000 horses to be culled in Australia, activists cry nay

Horse lovers warned of a "bloodbath" Wednesday as marksmen boarded helicopters to begin an aerial cull of up to 10 000 wild horses in drought-stricken central Australia.

Tourists were urged to stay clear of the area near the popular Kings Canyon Resort, 320 kilometres west of the Northern Territory town of Alice Springs.

The Central Land Council said the cull would centre on Tempe Downs, a 1 000-square-kilometre former cattle station now owned by the Urrampinyi Iltjitajarri Aboriginal Land Trust.

The council had earlier released images of horses either dead or dying of thirst in the parched centre of the continent.

"Nobody wants to see suffering, especially the traditional owners of the land, who love the horses but are well aware of the terrible consequences of out-of-control populations," council director David Ross said in a statement.

Elizabeth Jennings, the president of the Waler Horse Society of Australia, is calling for a stay of execution.

"It's a bloodbath," she said. "There's a huge risk of these horses suffering. They're a moving target and you're shooting them from a moving platform, and to think that you are going to shoot them dead is not how the reality will play out."

She said it would be more humane to round up the horses, and find new homes for the fittest animals. The older, sicker horses would be shot at close range.

More than 7 600 people have signed the society's petition.

She said the horses were the descendants of those bred to carry Australian soldiers, first in the Boer War in South Africa and then in north Africa in World War I.

Waler horses, as the breed is called, were the mounts of the Light Horse Brigade in the cavalry charge at the Battle of Beersheba in 1917. The victory paved the way for the capture of Jerusalem from German forces one month later.

Ross said there was no alternative to an aerial cull because there were few roads and the area was so vast. The nearest abattoir is 1,500 kilometres away.

"We understand it's a complex issue and quite challenging for many people who oppose animal cruelty but I think most people don't fully understand the circumstances and environment we're in," he said.