Upper Hunter MP Michael Johnsen is calling on the Federal Defence Minister to stop an imminent culling of wild brumbies.

Mr Johnsen is appealing for a planned killing of around 150 wild horses at the Singleton Army Base in the Hunter region to be scrapped.

The state MP says the community is “outraged” about the prospect of the aerial culling and says there are plenty of other solutions.

“At the very least, they can be rounded up and relocated to other brumby organisations.

“You can even put them in national parks where there are other brumbies now.

“Shooting these horses from a helicopter is fraught with danger.  A lot of the time they get shot and don’t get killed and they can’t be relocated again, therefore the horse is suffering.

“If they can do an aerial cull they can do an aerial muster.”

The ABC reports that the Department of Defence has defended the cull, citing the prolonged drought and the animals posing a risk to the public.

But Mr Johnsen is calling for Defence Minister Christopher Pyne to intervene immediately and stop the killing.

“It’s completely and utterly unacceptable,” he says.

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