NSW Environment Minister Matt Kean has rejected claims he knocked back a recount of the wild horses in the Kosciuszko National Park, amid a deepening rift within the government.

Mr Kean said it was his job to provide a strong voice for the environment and no one wanted to needlessly kill horses.

But in an impassioned interview with Ray Hadley this morning, Deputy Premier John Barilaro expressed anger at his ministerial colleague and the National Parks and Wildlife Service.

He said they needed the data to support the proposed cull.

But Mr Kean told Jim Wilson the program was about moving the brumbies from three key areas of the park.

“As a result of the advice I have been given from the community advisory panel; they have said in the three parts of the park, there should be no horses in them,” he said.

“We have started a program of trapping and rehoming them.

“If we cant find homes for them, they will go to the knackery.

“What I am doing is implementing the law Mr Barilaro wrote and took through the parliament.”

He said the alternative was the destruction of the “iconic, pristine” environment.

Click PLAY below to hear the full interview

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