By Sam McKeith in Sydney

NSW is considering controversial changes to environmental rules to allow aerial shooting of brumbies in Kosciuszko National Park as its wild horse population balloons.

The government is seeking feedback on a proposed change to the park’s wild horse management plan that would green light shooting of brumbies from the air.

It “would be an additional option for the control of wild horses alongside the 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 now up to about 23,000 wild horses in the park.

Park authorities say they prioritise passive trapping and rehoming, while shooting from the ground is also permitted but aerial culls are banned.

Brumby activists have for years opposed stricter control measures.

Environment Minister Penny Sharpe said without action wild horses could tip threatened plants and animals into extinction.

“There are simply too many wild horses for the park to cope,” Ms Sharpe said.

NSW Greens environment spokesperson Sue Higginson backed the move as responsible invasive species management.

The Greens have claimed the former coalition government was held captive by the Nationals to opposing brumby culls, resulting in lax policy in the area.

“It is not acceptable that feral horses in Kosciuszko National Park are pushing critically endangered species to extinction,” Ms Higginson said.

Opposition environment spokesperson Kellie Sloane was not immediately available for comment.

Jack Gough, from the Invasive Species Council – a group that wants stronger environmental laws – said the announcement was important.

“We have a choice to make between urgently reducing the numbers of feral horses or accepting the destruction of sensitive alpine ecosystems and habitats,” Mr Gough 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 a heartless way to kill wild horses due to its inaccuracy.

“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 it was key that wild horse numbers in the park did not fall below 3000, whatever changes were made.

Ms Pickering said a better way to control the brumby population 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 said.

Feedback on the proposed changes closes on September 11.

The debate on managing wild horses crosses state boundaries, with opponents of a wild horse cull in Victoria losing a legal bid earlier this year to have the practice banned.