Invasive animals removed to protect Barrington Tops World Heritage Area

The NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) has undertaken a control program to remove hundreds of invasive animals threatening the globally significant ecosystems of Barrington Tops National Park.

The park will reopen on Friday 27 September following the removal of invasive animals including pigs, rabbits, hares and horses from critical areas of the park through aerial and ground shooting operations.

Part of the park has been closed for 4 weeks during the operation, with public alerts on the NPWS website, onsite signage and standard notifications in place.

Barrington Tops National Park is a world heritage listed area. Invasive animals are one of the major threats to its unique plants and animals.

These animals have been damaging fragile sub-alpine areas across Barrington Tops, leading to the destruction of native plants, soil erosion and degradation of habitat for endangered species such as the broad-toothed rat and endangered orchid species.

There have also been risks to the public, including incursions into campgrounds and popular walking areas.

The operation focussed on areas of the park where invasive animals pose the greatest risk to world heritage and other values. This included aerial shooting in and around the sensitive Phytophthora quarantine area to reduce the potential spread of this soil-borne pathogen.

The recent program follows NPWS' efforts throughout the year to remove invasive animals such as pigs, foxes, wild dogs, deer, cats, rabbits and hares from the national park by methods such as ground trapping, baiting and ground and aerial shooting.

NPWS will seek interest from individuals and organisations interested in rehoming horses from the park and, subject to interest, will undertake trapping for rehoming in 2025.

Visitors can keep up to date with the most recent update in all lands managed by NPWS: Alerts for NSW National Parks.