On the news tonight I saw hunters in Victoria shooting wild ducks, so disgusting, I thought it was banned all over Australia apparently not.
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No its not banned, they have stopped the open season in some states and the animal libers would have you believe that ment the end of duck shooting in those states ,far from it, more ducks are shot in NSW now than ever before ,they just call it by other name you can get a permit to "protect crops" and shoot as many as you want ,at least with an open season they set limits and watch what the shooters are doing with penalties for those who brake the rules ,so far the only one I have heard being fined this year is that idiot Laurie Levy .
Yes there are laws in place but it doesn't mean that 'non-target' species aren't sometimes shot such as the likes of Whistling Kites*, Blue-billed Ducks, Black Swans, Freckled Ducks et al. as had occured in the past. I'd like to see an emphasis on enforcement of exisiting legislation.
*note shooters need to pass a waterfowl identification test before being qualified.
As for sustainability commoner duck species are capable of withstanding and bouncing back from considerable population losses and severe bottlenecks provided environmental conditions and rainfall are optimal. Ironically in some countries hunting interests have protected valuable habitat that would have otherwise been destroyed.
More ducks are probably shot in NSW under 'crop protection initiatives' in a state where hunting is ostensibly banned.
To learn more about the parliamentary discourse pertaining to such decisions see:
https://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/prod/parlment/hansart.nsf/V3Key/LA20130620005
I live near Lake Lonsdale where a large number of Freckled Ducks were shot last year but people only hear half the story ,most if not all the Freckled Ducks in this area live on and around the local sewerage ponds, some locals took it upon them selves to chase them and all the other ducks off the ponds on the days before opening and most of them ended up on L Lonsdale where the shooters had been told there wasn't any.
I'm not defending the shooters they are still supposed to ID their targget before pulling the trigger , but a bit more thought should have been put into where the spooked ducks would end up in this case the nearest large body of water where 90% of shooters were . duh, hello !
I would support a total ban on duck shooting everywhere, notwithstanding the fact that some duck shooting organizations contribute to providing habitat for water birds. My view is that there are other motives for establishing habitat other than shooting the creatures that live therein. Given the huge toll we humans have taken on wildlife I would have thought that the shooting of it is something to be totally abhorred in this day & age. Besides, guns have surely been superceded by cameras in the shooting stakes. No, it's time duck shooting was consigned to the stocks.
I couldn't agree more in an ideal world alas I think it's a pipe dream in victoria at present (note both sides of politics support duck hunting, so I wouldn't expect too much help from them).
Given the massive habitat loss and wetland drainage which has occured in this state and nationwide i dare say a sad compromise may be that any habitat retained (regardless of political motives behind said conservation) is better than nothing.
That's the dilemma we face. Do we compromise for short term environmental gains or do we compromise the environment to a long term death of a thousand cuts?
Why exactly is Laurie Levy an idiot, Sparrow?
soakes
Olinda, Victoria, Australia
Laurie Levy, where do I start !
Probably the stupidest thing I have seen him do is grab the barrel of a loaded shot gun and pull it toward himself ,for that alone I would call him an idiot ,over the years I have seen him do so many stupid things that have put not just his own life but the lives of others in danger .
When one of his group ends up face down in a swamp in a pool of blood will we blame the shooter or the idiot who encouraged them to jump in front of the gun.
At the moment it is still legal ,and the reason there are laws in place to keep protesters off the swamps in the morrning is for their own safety .
I'm sure all of us on this site abhor duck shooting but there are other ways to put an end to it, I mean a real end not the bulldust that has gone on in other states .
Cheers,
al
Central Victoria
https://sites.google.com/site/blackhillreservekyneton/home
Hi Sparrow. I'm looking forward to hearing your suggestions as to how we stop duck hunting without resorting to rather extreme measures!
soakes
Olinda, Victoria, Australia
Do extreme times demand extreme measures?
Far as I can recall they have been using these measures since the 80s with little success most of the changes made have been put forward by the RSPCA maybe we should listen to them ,they seem to be one of the only organisations those in power takes any notice of, the govenment seems oblivous to public opinion.
I don't clame to have all the answers, I do think that enforcing and tightening existing regulations to the point where it becomes all to hard will drive down shooter numbers and they will start shooting else, hopefully clay targgets.
I do worry that putting people in the line of fire will only end in tragety .