Shooters given go-ahead to bag more ducks
Some species of duck are permitted to be shot each year during an open season in Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania and in private ricefields in NSW, Australia. Due to the serious damages caused to these birds in the name of recreational shooting, it has been banned in Western Australia (1990), New South Wales (1995) and now Queensland (10 August 2005). At the last shooting season in Victoria, my friends camped at one of the shooting sites in Victoria as they tried to deter shooters from injuring these poor ducks. But all it takes is for some employee to provide dubious "evidence" (what measures did he take to obtain said evidence?) that the duck numbers are rising, to push forward more shooting this coming season.
You can read more about duck shooting here.
Shooters given go-ahead to bag more ducks
By Simon Lauder for AM
'Really enlightening': Duck hunters are happy the bag limit will be raised next year (Getty Images: Sandra Mu, file photo)
The Victorian Government says duck shooters will be able to bag more ducks than last year because there is evidence numbers are on the rise.
But Australia's leading expert on bird numbers says it is unlikely numbers have increased in Victoria, and the RSPCA has accused the Government of caving in to the interests of a minority.
The poor condition of Victoria's wetlands led to the cancellation of the duck hunting season last year and the year before, but it was back on this year, and now the Government has announced a bigger bag limit for shooters when the season opens in March.
They will be allowed to kill eight ducks, but the season will be a fortnight shorter than the last.
Duck hunters, including Colin Wood from the Sporting Shooters Association, are pleased with the decision.
"You can get together with your comrades, I guess, you can harvest some wild fare for your table, spend a time in the outdoors that really is quite enlightening," he said.
But the decision has angered RSPCA President Hugh Wirth.
"The Government is facing an election in 2010, they're not travelling well in the bush, duck shooting is being allowed to blockade the 13 per cent of Victorians who agree that duck hunting should continue," he said.
Professor Richard Kingsford from the University of NSW conducts an annual aerial survey of bird numbers in Eastern Australia.
He says there has been a slight increase in duck numbers, but it is very unlikely any of that has come from Victoria.
"It's unlikely that ... there's been much breeding there, given how dry the conditions have been over the last year," he said.
He says there's not enough evidence that duck hunting is sustainable.
"We need to be quite careful that we're not having an impact on the populations and I think that is an issue at the moment, that we don't have sufficient information to be able to say categorically that that's the case," he said.
Victoria's Department of Sustainability and Environment says duck hunting is sustainable.
Wildlife management policy officer Zach Powell describes the recent increase in game bird numbers as significant.
He says the increase does not have to come from Victoria to justify the hunting.
"[We have seen] probably the largest [increase] since 2001," he said.
"The ducks in Victoria do fly out of Victoria and so we realise that any recreational duck hunting in Victoria contributes to the whole of the duck population of the eastern side of Australia.
"So we take that broad range of data and look outside of our state."
The State Government says it is convinced hunting will not adversely affect populations of ducks.
Original article and comments from ABC.net.au
Here's ways to help. There should be an online letter-writing somewhere...
x-posted to veganpeople
You can read more about duck shooting here.
Shooters given go-ahead to bag more ducks
By Simon Lauder for AM
'Really enlightening': Duck hunters are happy the bag limit will be raised next year (Getty Images: Sandra Mu, file photo)
The Victorian Government says duck shooters will be able to bag more ducks than last year because there is evidence numbers are on the rise.
But Australia's leading expert on bird numbers says it is unlikely numbers have increased in Victoria, and the RSPCA has accused the Government of caving in to the interests of a minority.
The poor condition of Victoria's wetlands led to the cancellation of the duck hunting season last year and the year before, but it was back on this year, and now the Government has announced a bigger bag limit for shooters when the season opens in March.
They will be allowed to kill eight ducks, but the season will be a fortnight shorter than the last.
Duck hunters, including Colin Wood from the Sporting Shooters Association, are pleased with the decision.
"You can get together with your comrades, I guess, you can harvest some wild fare for your table, spend a time in the outdoors that really is quite enlightening," he said.
But the decision has angered RSPCA President Hugh Wirth.
"The Government is facing an election in 2010, they're not travelling well in the bush, duck shooting is being allowed to blockade the 13 per cent of Victorians who agree that duck hunting should continue," he said.
Professor Richard Kingsford from the University of NSW conducts an annual aerial survey of bird numbers in Eastern Australia.
He says there has been a slight increase in duck numbers, but it is very unlikely any of that has come from Victoria.
"It's unlikely that ... there's been much breeding there, given how dry the conditions have been over the last year," he said.
He says there's not enough evidence that duck hunting is sustainable.
"We need to be quite careful that we're not having an impact on the populations and I think that is an issue at the moment, that we don't have sufficient information to be able to say categorically that that's the case," he said.
Victoria's Department of Sustainability and Environment says duck hunting is sustainable.
Wildlife management policy officer Zach Powell describes the recent increase in game bird numbers as significant.
He says the increase does not have to come from Victoria to justify the hunting.
"[We have seen] probably the largest [increase] since 2001," he said.
"The ducks in Victoria do fly out of Victoria and so we realise that any recreational duck hunting in Victoria contributes to the whole of the duck population of the eastern side of Australia.
"So we take that broad range of data and look outside of our state."
The State Government says it is convinced hunting will not adversely affect populations of ducks.
Original article and comments from ABC.net.au
Here's ways to help. There should be an online letter-writing somewhere...
x-posted to veganpeople