Approval is a step closer for the aerial shooting of wild brumbies in Kosciuszko National Park in a bid to curb its surging wild horse population.
The NSW government is seeking feedback on a controversial management plan change that would allow shooting of the horses from the air.
It "would be an additional option for the control of wild horses alongside existing methods such as trapping and rehoming, and ground shooting," the government said on Monday, adding there was urgent need for action.
The government says it must cut the brumby population to 3000 by mid-2027 and estimates there are up to 23,000 wild horses in the park.
Authorities prioritise passive trapping and rehoming, while shooting from the ground is also permitted but aerial culls are banned.
Brumby activists have long opposed stricter control measures.
Environment Minister Penny Sharpe said without action threatened plants and animals could be tipped into extinction.
"There are simply too many wild horses for the park to cope," she said.
Opposition environment spokesperson Kellie Sloane said if aerial culling went ahead it needed to be "where helicopters can easily track and put down injured animals without causing undue suffering".
Greens environment spokesperson Sue Higginson backed the move as responsible invasive species management.
The party claims the former coalition government was held captive by the Nationals opposing brumby culls, resulting in lax policy.
"It is not acceptable that feral horses in Kosciuszko National Park are pushing critically endangered species to extinction," Ms Higginson said.
Wagga Wagga independent Joe McGirr, whose electorate includes the NSW Snowy Mountains, said change was needed.
"The ideal solution is for these horses to be removed and rehomed but it is simply not feasible to do this for tens of thousands of these animals," Dr McGirr said.
Jack Gough from the Invasive Species Council, a group that wants stronger environmental laws, said the state was at a crossroads.
"We have a choice to make between urgently reducing the numbers of feral horses or accepting the destruction of sensitive alpine ecosystems and habitats," he said.
Nature Conservation Council of NSW said wild horses had a devastating impact on alpine ecosystems and Indigenous heritage, with ground and aerial shooting the "most humane and effective population control methods".
Animals Liberation CEO Lynda Stoner opposed the plan, calling shooting from the air heartless.
"We all know of cases where brumbies have been aerial shot and left wounded and dying for a long time and it's a very blase way of killing any animal," Ms Stoner told AAP.
The Australian Brumby Alliance's Jill Pickering said wild horse numbers in the park should not fall below 3000, whatever changes were made.
She said a better way to control numbers was to use methods popular in the US such as fertility control and passive trapping.
Aerial shooting "leaves a whole mass of horses potentially paralysed to just die bleeding out," she told AAP.
Feedback on the proposed changes closes on September 11.
