The Baillieu government today announced a full, three-month duck shooting season for Victoria, commencing March 19. This is wrong on at least two major grounds: Cruelty – one in four ducks shot are wounded, not killed; their deaths are often prolonged and painful; Environment – the Victorian wetlands have not recovered from the prolonged drought and may not do so for several more years. Therefore, waterbird numbers are down. Are there really enough for 20,000 hunters to each bag 10 ducks per day, for three months? This could devastate whole species. Duck shooting was banned in three states (WA, QLD and NSW) as long ago as 1990. Please write ASAP to newspapers and your local parliamentarian about this reprehensible practice. If we care about birds, together we can stamp it out. Further information from the Coalition Against Duck Shooting website: www.duck.org.au
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Comments
12 responses to “Duck shooting”
Hi Debbie, I would like to heartily commend you and the Coalition Against Duck Shooting for your tireless and often dangerous work in opposing duck shooting in Victoria, and for keeping us updated about the crimes that are being committed on a regular basis in the name of a so-called ‘sport’. I find it abhorrent, as I hope others on this list do, that our native birds – including protected non-game species – are being killed for the satiation of the blood lust of shooters. As requested I have written, as I hope others have, to the politicians involved (I’m still waiting for a reply to my letter about the Box Flat bird massacre). I wish you all the best for the ultimate success of your campaign. Martin Potter
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Text of the letter: “BY THE time you read this, I will be dead. I’m a duck on Victoria’s wetlands that spent her days swimming, dabbling, upending in the water. I mated, laid eggs and raised ducklings every year.
I’m also an imaginary duck, a duck in your mind. I’m one of Leunig’s ducks – a figure of friendship and loyalty who helped you along in the world.
This morning, I flew over the water and was hit with shotgun pellets that broke my bones and shattered my bill. It was a long time before someone mercifully broke my neck.
You killed me when all I wanted was what you want, too: life and freedom.”
Keep it up, Debbie.
Peter Shute
Thanks everyone for your comments – particularly those by Paul and Chris. Some very pertinent points have been made.
Yes, Birding-Aus is the place to discuss the issue. Maybe Warren was objecting because in the past we’ve discouraged political debate – perhaps that should read “party-political debate”. I don’t think this is the right forum to promote one party over another – however it is perfectly acceptable to discuss the POLICIES of those parties if they relate to Australian birds / habitat.
Anyway, in this case, the major political parties (in Victoria) have policies that allow duck hunting. I guess it may be more contentious in NSW where the Shooters have managed to get a couple of their own into parliament.
So yes, it’s OK to discuss duck hunting, and it’s OK to rally people to oppose it on this forum.
Thanks
Russell Woodford Birding-Aus List Owner
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Hi Warren,
On Russell’s website, http://birding-aus.org, he says “Birding-Aus is a place for everyone with an interest in Australia’s wild birds, their conservation and behaviour.” I would have thought that a discussion about duck hunting was well and truly within that purview.
I am unsure what you mean by being against duck shooting for “practical”, not “emotional” reasons. Whilst I eat meat, and will continue to do so, I am completely against duck hunting for the same reasons that I am against cock fighting, bull fighting, fox hunting and any other form of blood sport – any activity that results in the death or serious injury of an animal purely for the enjoyment of the participant. I do not believe for an instant that the majority of duck hunters shoot ducks for food, rather, they do so as a “sport”. One simply has to look at the name of the premier shooting organisation in the country to realise that – The Sporting Shooter’s Association of Australia.
I choose to adopt this attitude because I find it more powerful and more persuasive than to use the argument that duck hunting is bad because of the low numbers of waterfowl due to the recent and long-term drought we have had in Victoria and other eastern states. The problem with this point of view, in my opinion, is that the moment conditions change – the drought is broken – all of a sudden, duck hunting is acceptable again. Duck hunting, in my opinion, should be banned permanently, not only when conditions or duck numbers don’t allow it.
Unfortunately the Sporting Shooters Association is a particularly powerful lobby group. The fact that two members of the Shooters and Fishers Party were elected to the Legislative Council in NSW illustrates the lobbying power of shooters and hunters in this country. I believe that people opposing duck hunting should have a voice also, and I see no reason why birding-aus should not be used to promote this point of view. In the interests of fairness and balanced coverage, however, you don’t have to look too far back in the birding-aus archives to find a post supporting duck hunting.
Paul Dodd Docklands, Victoria
Well said Elizabeth, Chris & others….
Keep up the great work Debbie!!
Cheers Martin Cachard Cairns
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I also feel Birding Aus is an appropriate forum to publicise the misdoings (if that’s a real word) of duck hunters.
Probably most duck hunters do the right thing, but obviously a significant number are showing a callous disregard for rules, regulations and the environment they claim to enjoy. I prefer to think they are of the breed who think the environment is theirs to exploit.
If Debbie and her friends didn’t alert us to what is really going on how else would we know? We hear almost nothing on the TV and radio.
As a forum to raise bird related issues (and last time I looked ducks, swans, coots, etc were birds) letting us know what is happening in the wetlands is really important and BAus is a great way to share the news. Elizabeth Shaw Phillip Island Victoria
And whilst it may indeed be “political” in that anything designed to influence Government is in that category, it is not party political as both Labor and the Coalition have been equally bad on this issue.
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Hi Warren,
Could you elaborate a bit more about what exactly you have a problem with? Is it the laying of dead birds at the premier’s office? I’m not sure this is a criticism based along political lines per se, but a criticism of this particular government for allowing duck shooting to proceed. One of the tired old arguments in favour of duck shooting as I understand it is that “hunters are really good at identifying birds, so they won’t kill anything they aren’t allowed to”. The actions of Debbie and her friends are quite clearly aimed at dispelling this myth, by showing exactly how many illegally killed birds they are finding. And if they are finding this many, how many more are being taken by foxes, dogs, eagles etc? How many swans (for example) is it ok for hunters to “accidentally” shoot before the public should start asking pointed questions of the administration that allowed hunting to recommence? What about the Freckled Duck from earlier on in the piece? If the hunters are worried about being unfairly labeled because of a few rogue hunters in their midst, maybe they should be better at naming and shaming those responsible? Maybe that would help people feel like it really is a rogue element responsible and not just the status quo.
If I’ve misconstrued what you are worried about please let me know. I don’t think discussion about this is a bad thing, but at this stage I’m firmly in favour of making this a high profile issue in Victoria.
Regards, Chris
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I also think that discussion of political issues affecting bird life and its conservation is entirely appropriate for Baus, and indeed provokes some of the most informative discourse.
Alistair
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I think it’s entirely appropriate.
John Leonard
I wonder how many ducks there actually are in Victoria – they are certainly very scarce (apart from Shelduck) at Werribee!
It remains I think Labor party policy to ban duck hunting, but they showed no sign of it when in power.
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Appalling. But inevitable – firstly given the deal struck by the major parties not to exclude the Greens, effectively silencing the only dissenting voice in the Victorian Parliament to this disgusting “sport”; and secondly given the amount of rainfall we’ve had, which no matter what the experts say, would create the illusion that there *must* be an incredible “surplus” of waterfowl.
Paul Dodd Docklands, Victoria