Duck Shooting: Not a ‘Sport’
*2017 Update: Victoria has again authorised a full duck hunting season, despite waterbird populations being at their lowest levels in 34 years. The season will begin on 18 March.*
Despite huge opposition and data suggesting that water bird populations are at significantly low levels, Victoria’s 2016 duck-killing season is set to commence on 19 March.
In a move which some have suggested was designed to avoid media attention, the Victorian state government announced its controversial decision to allow a full 12-week season in a media release at 10:30 pm on a Friday evening.
There will be some restrictions on the number of birds hunters can kill this year, but with conditions very dry and bird numbers low, there is great concern about the effect even this restricted season will have on the state’s native birds. And of course, even one bird needlessly slaughtered is one too many.
GTV-9 news feature, 23 January 2016
Ducks and other native waterbirds have the right to live out their lives peacefully – without being blasted out of the sky for the sake of “entertainment” or someone’s misguided view of “sport”.
Hunters claim to kill only permitted species; however, there have been countless cases of protected species being shot at and killed each year, including swans, ibis, and the rare and endangered freckled duck.
It’s also estimated that around one in every four ducks who are shot receive wounds but are not killed outright, meaning thousands of ducks and other birds are often left to die slowly and painfully after being hit and injured.
In a letter to the Victorian government, MP Kelvin Thomson expressed his support for a ban on this cruel activity, stating:
“[T]here are inevitably many instances of animal cruelty with each duck season.”
It’s time this barbaric activity was banned once and for all – not just in Victoria but also in South Australia, the Northern Territory and Tasmania.
//
This duck was shot, had its head ripped off and was then dumped. This means a duck shooter had the bird in their hand and discarded it. Proof that they do not really take the ducks for food.-Dave M. Posted by Coalition Against Duck Shooting on Friday, April 29, 2011
How You Can Help
- E-mail the Victorian Government to tell Premier Daniel Andrews that you want the recreational shooting of native waterbirds banned, as it already has been in Western Australia (1990), New South Wales (1995) and Queensland (2005).
- Follow the Coalition Against Duck Shooting on Facebook, and support the important work they’re doing in this area.
- Write to the ministers responsible for duck shooting in each of the states still allowing this gruesome “sport” to continue:
Victoria
The Honourable Jaala Pulford MP
Minister for Agriculture
Level 16, 8 Nicholson St
East Melbourne, Victoria 3002
(03) 9637 9940
[email protected]
South Australia
The Honourable Ian Hunter MLC
Minister for Sustainability, Environment and Conservation
GPO Box 1047, Adelaide 5001
(08) 8463 5680
(08) 8463 5681 (fax)
[email protected]
Tasmania
The Honourable Jeremy Rockliff
Minister for Primary Industries and Water
43 Best St
Devonport, Tasmania 7310
(03) 6478 6050
[email protected]
Northern Territory
The Honourable Lauren Jane Moss MLA
Minister for Environment and Natural Resources
GPO Box 3146
Darwin, NT 0801
(08) 8936 5532
[email protected]
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