2017/04: Should duck hunting be banned in Victoria?
Introduction to the media issue
Video clip at right:On March 24, 2017, Win News televised a report on the aftermath of the opening of the Victorian duck hunting season, including the decision to close one area due to illegal shooting of threatened species. If you cannot see this clip, it will be because video is blocked by your network. To view the clip, access from home or from a public library, or from another network which allows viewing of video clips.
What they said...
'The recreational hunting of ducks... [causes] inherent and inevitable pain and suffering'
2017 Duck season advice to the Victorian Government's Game Management Authority from the RSPCA
'The opening weekend is a great time for families, and we get a massive influx in Sale'
Geoff Abrahall of H&S Firearms in Sale commenting on the recreational and economic advantages of duck hunting for regional Victoria
The issue at a glance
On March 18, 2017, the Victorian duck hunting season opened. The season has begun with calls from a range of conservation groups for ducking hunting in the state to be banned. These calls had a particular urgency this year because of the unusually low number of ducks, which opponents of duck hunting had hoped might see the 2017 season suspended.
The Victorian government has claimed that high recent breeding numbers and the new harvesting model being adopted will ensure species conservation.
Hunting groups such as Field and Game Australia have welcomed the decision, while bodies such as the Coalition Against Duck Shooting, Animals Australia and Birdlife Australia have condemned it as showing disregard for species survival and for the infliction of needless suffering on sentient creatures.
The issue became more acute after the opening weekend with the subsequent discovery of significant numbers of protected duck species shot and their carcasses dumped.
On March 24, 2017 the Victorian Game Management Authority issued a media release stating 'Koorangie State Game Reserve west of Kerang will be closed to duck hunting from Saturday 25 March 2017.'
The media release continued, 'Given that at least 75 Freckled Duck and 22 Blue-billed Duck were illegally destroyed at this wetland complex over the opening weekend, the loss of any of these threatened birds would be unacceptable.' Field and Game Australia, which usually opposes the closure of wetlands for hunting, has supported this action and condemned those hunters who have killed threatened species.
On March 29, 2017, it was reported that the bodies of a further 200 dead birds had been found dumped in pits at the Koorangie State Game Reserve.