Wild brumby culls in regional Victoria are back in the spotlight as an advocacy group launches a new round of legal action.
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The Australian Brumby Alliance has begun proceedings against Parks Victoria in the Supreme Court.
ABA claims shooting the wild horses breaches the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act and is pushing for it to stop.
The animals are culled or captured due to concerns they destroy the environment in sensitive parts of the High Country.
Alliance president Jill Pickering says the best solution is to rehome the animals or use "fertility control".
"Overpopulation of a non-native species does not give Parks Victoria a ticket to inhumanely kill for population control," Ms Pickering said in a statement.
"Parks Victoria have chosen cruelty over common sense or compassion by shooting our beautiful, sentient wild brumby horses."
Parks Victoria said it had a duty to protect the state's national parks.
"Parks Victoria has an obligation to control invasive species in Victoria's national parks, including feral horses, which cause long-term and large-scale damage to native plants and animals, many of which occur nowhere else in the world," a spokesperson told AAP in a statement.
"There are large numbers of feral horses in the alpine and Barmah areas and the damage they cause is evident.
"The most humane feral horse management techniques have been selected on the best advice and Parks Victoria needs to respond to the current situation with the best techniques available."
The spokesperson said conservation efforts in the Alpine and Barmah National Parks had been hampered in recent years by feral animals, the Black Summer bushfires, climate change and the impacts of previous horse management methods.
This is the second time the alliance has launched legal action over the cull.
Legal documents were served to Parks Victoria on Friday and a date will be set for a hearing.
Australian Associated Press
