The Australian Brumby: Franz Weber 01 _____________________________

Briefly - how the Franz Weber Territory in Australia, a paradise for wild horses, came into existence.
It was in March 1987 when Australian animal lovers approached the Franz Weber Foundation with the request to help them stop the shooting of the Australian brumbies from helicopters, a practice commonly used to get rid of feral horses in the Australian bush. When he viewed the video films of some of the massacres, Franz Weber was so appalled that he started a vast international campaign of information and denunciation of the inhumane activity. The campaign met with great public response and very soon provoked an international outcry of protest.
And indeed the brutality of these air raids against the fleeing mobs of horses was beyond description, but shooting the "pest horses" from helicopters was considered the most humane method to keep them under control.
As a result, a great many friends of animals and horse lovers from all over the world demanded of Franz Weber that he create a sanctuary for brumbies, a place where they would not be persecuted and could live in freedom and safety.
The Government of the Northern Territoy agreed to negotiate about a suitable piece of land and finally approved the prurchase by the Foundation of Bonrook Station, a former cattle station near Pine Creek. The beautiful but totally neglected territory was gradually upgraded and turned into a horse station and sanctuary for native wildlife and is now known as the "Franz Weber Territory".

More background information
At the base of it all: the ominous helicopter shootings of brumbies
The Franz Weber Foundation, a non government organisation. first became concerned with the plight of the brumbies when a group of Auistralian conservationists sent a "60 Minutes" documentary on the brutal helicopter shootings of wild horses by the Australian Government.
Already well before that, people from Australia had been writing about the shootings and kept asking the Foundation for help, but it really was the film footage that prompted the Foundation to take action.
Unbearable scenes
And indeed the brutality of these government air raids against the mobs of fleeing brumbies was beyond description, the panic and the fight for life of the horses unbearable to watch. Very often death by bullet was anything but instantaneous. Injured, mutilated horses would drag themselves to the bushes where it often took them many hours and even days to die. Desperate foals would cling to their dead or dying mothers and would perish slowly and miserably by her side.
Tried and sentenced by the Animal Rights Court
Twice ( 1987 and 1988 ) the case of these massacres was brought to trial before the INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE FOR ANIMAL RIGHTS in Geneva and twice the Australian Prime Minister and the Minister for Primary Industries and the Chief Minister of the Northern Territory were condemned and exposed for allowing and encouraging these inhumane practices.
After the second trial which received tremendous media coverage in Europe and even the US, Australian Embassies and the Federal Government were flooded with protest letters from all over the world. Europeans in particular find it totally inconceivable and unacceptable to see horses treated in this way.
Sponsors and supporters
The horses on Franz Weber Territory are sponsored individually by a great variety of people: children, teenagers and adults of every age group.
They are mostly Swiss, but there are sponsors also in France and Germany.
Sponsors have a special, more personal relationship with the horses. They regularly receive original photographs of "their" horse or of special groups of horses and are kept informed on life and happenings in the sanctuary by personal letters.
However the money donated by the sponsors is only a contribution to the actual costs of the sanctuary. Apart from the sponsors, a great many of the Foundation's 210,000 members respond to its regular newsletters by supporting the sanctuary as an entity.
Funds for the Franz Weber Territory come exclusively from Europe, 90% from Switzerland, the rest from Germany and France. No funding has ever come fom Australia, but then the Foundation has never been asking.
A safe haven for brumbies and native fauna
The purpose of the Franz Weber Territory is to provide a place where brumbies, which are a part of Australia's history and culture, can live and prosper in peace and security.
Conservation of the native species is another of the foundation's objectives.
Apart from brumbies, the Territory has a rich bird life and interesting native fauna which has steadily increased from the moment a competent management was put in place.
The Old Kohinoor Mine, home to the largest known breeding colony of the endangered Ghost Bat ( Macroderma gigas ), is on the Territory. This unique habitat was placed under strict protection as a National Heritage Site.

The magic of Bonrook
There are not many places in Australia now where there are wild horses, but
if any of you that are listening to me has a mob of brumby horses on his place,
I would advise him to let them alone and make a tourist attraction out of them.
A mob of wild horses going across country at full speed is a great sight.
Author - A.B. Paterson
Over the years, with increasing demand from visitors and guests, the Franz Weber Territory has become what it is today: a beautiful tourist destination with a very special appeal.
Bonrook Country Stay offers great hospitality, comfort and gracious living.
Bonrook Station, the kingdom of the brumbies, is a ranch and a vast natural reserve holding many wondrous sights and secrets - a true paradise for riders and for lovers of nature and animals.
Bonrook is the place where Australians and tourists from every corner of the world can experience, often for the first time, the freedom and magnificance of unlimited, untouched nature and enjoy the presence and the breathtaking sight of wild horses running free.

About the Franz Weber Foundation
The Franz Weber Foundation is an international humane organisation founded in 1975, concerned with the protection of nature and animals worldwide. Ever since 1975 it has been leading successful international campaigns to save animals, such as the campaign against the slaughter of baby seals in Canada, the massacres of migratory birds and the cruel transports of horses in Europe, the massacres of black dolphins on the Faroe Islands, the inhumane transports of butchery animals across Europe, the massacre of the African elephant in Togo where the Foundation runs an elephant and wild-life reserve of 2000 square kms.

About the International Court of Justice for Animal Rights
The International Court of Justice for Animal Rights is an organ of the United Animal Nations - U.A.N. Founded by Franz Weber in Geneva in 1979.
Its purpose is to hold public trials on cases of offense and crime against the animal world and to expose and condemn offenders before public opinion.
International media are always largely represented at these hearings, which explains the success and efficacy of the trials.