A man has been charged with animal cruelty after 25 dead ponies were found near a cliff in northern NSW last week.

The 39-year-old man, from Pottsville, was interviewed by police yesterday afternoon and charged with 25 counts of committing an act of aggravated cruelty upon an animal.

The bodies of the 25 ponies were discovered by police at a cliff near a truck parking bay about three kilometres south of Old Ben Lomond Road, off the New England Highway on the Ben Lomond Range in Glen Innes on Saturday, December 16.

Investigators allege 35 ponies were being transported in a removalist truck from Kingstown on the Northern Tablelands to the north coast when some of them died from inadequate ventilation in the vehicle.

Two ponies survived and were inspected by investigators in northern NSW, police said.

Eight other ponies remain missing, they added.

The man is due to appear in Glen Innes Local Court on February 14.