David Llewellyn
NATIVE VEGETATION CLEARANCE HABITAT LOSS AND BIO-DIVERSITY DECLINE
Duck Killing
Action Alert - Write to the Minister and tell him to ban duck shooting (see details below).
When killing is called ‘sport’
For three months of every year licensed Tasmanians are permitted to make their way onto beautiful State public wetlands and shoot native ducks. Shoot dead or not… collect, cook and eat.. or not. It’s all sport. Apparently.
This may not be your kind of sport - it’s not the way most Australians think of sport. Wildlife Tasmania has never considered this sport. It’s not the way WA thinks of sport - it was banned there in 1990. Nor is it the way NSW thinks of sport, it was banned there in 1995. Queensland declared it a non-sport when they announced their permanent ban on November 1st 2006. SA and Victoria have closed or shortened recent seasons, this year included. Tassie?- no mate- she’ll be apples, fire away.
In spite of Ramsar status:
The Ramsar treaty was signed in 1971 when wetlands of International Importance were listed and acknowledged by 144 international signatories (including Australia). Five of the Australian sites are in Tasmania. Until 2003, the duckshoot opened over all 5 of these internationally important sites. Since then ONE of these sites has been closed to duck shooting. The shoot over Little Waterhouse Lake was prohibited in recognition of its Ramsar status. We will continue to push for a ban over the other 4 sites. To date the government hasn’t acknowledged the impropriety.
In spite of endangered species, drought and poaching.
Current target species are black ducks, chestnut teal, grey teal, mountain ducks and wood ducks, and bag limits are specified. BUT other species, some protected, share these habitats and are at risk of accidental or deliberate shooting. Amongst these: blue winged shoveler, white eyed duck, musk duck, freckled duck, pink eared duck, blue billed duck and plumed tree duck. We are assured that shooters are required to sit a wildlife identification test to ensure there is NO mistake in identifying target ducks, but whilst the pass rate is not required to be 100% and whilst every season turns up taking of non-target species, exceeding of bag limits and unlicensed shooting we can see that not all gun handlers do or can follow the rules. No small point for concern.
Further, in seasons where much of Australia has experienced serious drought and banned shooting, Tasmania, unable to nod to the situation, has blithely increased the numbers of target species and stood firmly by its whole 3 month season. It happened this year, when other states recognised the dire situation for waterbirds and called moratoria. Only Tasmania held an open season on ducks, despite experts warning that conditions were very serious for many duck species. We wait now to see the figures, on numbers of ducks shot, that will likely condemn a negligent government.
In spite of cruelty
Shooters may only use shotguns to shoot at ducks. Each shot sends a spray of pellets towards the target, the spray disperses and pellets hitting the targeted duck may kill it. Most often they only wound it. If badly injured it will fall suddenly and land heavily in the water, if the injury is lesser it may fly on for some distance. Statistics show that shooters nearly always need multiple shots to kill outright, up to ten shots, or they may wring the birds neck. For every duck killed and retreived, another may escape wounded to die later from injuries, or starvation. This cruelty alone should be enough to have duck shooting relegated to history as another unfortunate chapter in human evolution.
Where we are up to in Tasmania:
The dwindling and ageing population of duck shooters in Tasmania enjoy both the permissive legislation AND THE COMPANY of (members of) our government. Meanwhile popular opinion favours a ban.
Wildlife Tasmania is working to secure this ban through public education, lobbying and protest.
This year we saw evidence of one of the worst droughts in 24 years, and the lowest waterbird numbers recorded in eastern Australia. South Australia and Victoria cancelled duck seasons as a result. Many ducks and other waterbirds moved to Tasmania to seek refuge and had added stress with the invasion of shooters during open season.
With the season over for this year we need your help to gain a ban in Tasmania to take effect as of next year. Write to the Minister and ask him to end duck shooting in Tasmania.
TASMANIAN WILDLIFE NEEDS YOUR HELP!
David Llewellyn is a Labor representative in the electorate of Lyons . He currently holds the office of Minister for Primary Industries he advocates recreational duck shooting.
Every year hundreds of thousands of ducks are shot over the wetlands of Australia in the name of a ‘sport´ - recreational duck hunting. Some of these ducks will be killed outright. Some will be wounded, brought down and killed on retrieval. Many others will be crippled or wounded and will die within a few hours or days. Some will suffer prolonged pain before they die.
Duck shooting is not humane. Tens of thousands of ducks receive horrific injuries every year during the hunting season. The RSPCA opposes the recreational hunting of ducks because of the high level of cruelty involved.
Why is duck hunting so cruel?
In order for duck shooting to be humane, all ducks shot would have to be killed outright by the hunter*. This is not the case. Some ducks are brought down and killed by the hunter on retrieval, usually by wringing the neck. Others are crippled (brought down but not retrieved) and these may die within hours, days or weeks of being shot. Other ducks will be wounded but will fly on. Some ducks will escape unscathed.
* For duck shooting to be as humane as abattoir slaughter it must be possible for a hunter of average skill to kill all ducks instantly or, on very rare occasions, with a second shot within a few seconds.
Why are so many ducks wounded?
Because limitations in the way shotguns operate make it impossible to ensure that a duck is killed outright, even by a skilled marksman. There is a high level of cruelty in duck hunting that cannot be eliminated unless the practice is banned.
Hunting with a shotgun
Ducks are usually shot with a 12 gauge shotgun. A shotgun, unlike a rifle, fires a cluster of pellets rather than a single bullet. As the pellets leave the gun they gradually spread out in a cigar-shaped cloud which increases in diameter the further it is from the gun. If the duck is fully within the cloud of pellets it may be killed outright, but this depends on exactly what pattern the pellets have formed.
The spread of pellets from a shotgun is irregular, so at normal hunting range it is impossible to ensure, even when the duck is within the target area, that it will be hit by enough pellets to kill it. If the duck is on the edge of the circle of pellets it will be wounded rather than killed. If the duck is within the circle but just out of range it will be wounded as the pellets will be travelling too slowly to kill.
Ducks need to be struck by three to eight pellets for a relatively quick kill, depending on the size of the pellets. A hunter will usually have to fire between four and ten shots for each duck they kill. These shots will be aimed at a number of ducks, only one of which will be downed and (eventually) bagged (Sanderson & Bellrose 1986: Victorian DCE 1991).
Crippling and wounding rates
There is no definitive figure on the percentage of ducks crippled or wounded as a result of duck hunting, but an estimate can be made using a number of different methods.
Embedded pellets
One way is to examine the incidence of shotgun pellets embedded in the bodies of live birds. Studies of this type have found that the percentage of birds with embedded pellets ranged from 6% to 19% of ducks, depending on the size of the duck (Norman 1976).
This level of wounding in live ducks is very concerning, especially given that
* it does not include crippling and fatal shot wounds; and
* these surveys include ducks that have not been shot at (and therefore could never be wounded) which dilutes the overall wounding rate.
Hunter interviews and hidden observers
Another method used to estimate wounding levels is to interview hunters on the number of ducks wounded per duck retrieved. This is an extremely unreliable (and unscientific) method since hunters have been shown to grossly underestimate crippling rates.
A Canadian study which compared hunter estimates with reports from hidden observers who had watched the shooters and counted the number of ducks they crippled found that hunters reported a crippling rate of 6-18% of ducks bagged compared to the observed level of 20-45% (Nieman et al 1987).
These results indicate that hunter assessments are a totally unsuitable method of estimating wounding rates. Overall, the Nieman et al study found a crippling rate of 40% of the total harvest. When calculated as a proportion of ducks bagged, this represents a rate of 6.6 ducks crippled for every 10 ducks bagged*.
* Crippling loss rates are expressed as a percentage of the total kill, not of the bag limit, therefore the rate must be adjusted to provide a rate per bag limit. For a bag limit of 10 and a crippling rate of 40%, the losses per bag are calculated as 6.6 ducks (Norton & Thomas 1994).
Researchers examining a range of crippling studies concluded that the crippling rate reported by Neiman et al (1987) was the "best documented and most realistic value available" (Norton & Thomas 1994).Even this only covers those birds which are wounded so badly that they are immediately downed - many more birds will be injured but will fly on.
Computer simulation
An estimate of wounding rates has been calculated using a computer model of which simulated the effects of a hunter shooting at a duck. Unlike the previous methods discussed, this accounts for all wounding, not just crippled ducks that are downed but not retrieved.
The study analysed hunters´ hit rates to determine the level of wounding and calculated that a shooter who takes on average 6 shots to kill a bird (a conservative estimate compared to published studies) would wound between 60 and 120 ducks for every 100 bagged. Overall the study concluded that most competent shooters will wound at least one duck for every duck bagged (Russell 1994a, b).
What is the rate of crippling and wounding caused by duck shooting? Studies indicate that between 6.6 and 10 ducks are crippled or wounded for every 10 ducks that are bagged (shot and retrieved by the hunter).
Comments from RSPCA Inspectors present at the 1994 Victorian duck season opening:
* It is not possible for relevant government departments or the police to enforce existing legislation relating to duck shooting.
* There were vast areas of the state where shooting goes on without inspection.
* Shooting commenced before conditions allowed accurate identification of species.
* In unmonitored areas shooting commenced up to 40 minutes before the allotted time.
* Many shots were fired at extreme range where accurate species identification and the chance of a clean kill were highly unlikely.
* Observations were made of ducks being wounded but not brought down.
* A number of shooters were observed to continue shooting rather than following-up and recovering downed birds.
* An estimated 95% of shots fired did not meet their target and would have been deposited in the water and on dry land. In states where lead shot is still used this represents a serious pollution risk.
* Other species of birds were seen to be frightened or distressed by the shooting. Birds can become exhausted after flying around for hours and have difficulty maintaining height.
Where is it legal?
Recreational duck hunting is permitted in South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria and the Northern Territory. Only in the ACT, Queensland, New South Wales and Western Australia is it illegal to hunt ducks for sport. Ducks can be shot in NSW and WA under licence when they are thought to be causing damage to crops, dams or waterways.
The ban in NSW was introduced in 1995 following a recommendation from the Animal Welfare Advisory Committee which concluded that "the level of pain and suffering through cruelty in duck hunting is unreasonably high and that it is unnecessary and unjustifiable in circumstances where the activity is undertaken to satisfy a sporting urge".
It is time that those states where duck hunting is still permitted took the issue of cruelty seriously and followed the lead of NSW and WA in banning this cruel ‘sport´.
Duck hunting legislation in Australia:
ACT - The ACT is a wildlife refuge and all native waterfowl are protected
NSW - Recreational duck hunting was banned in 1995. Shooting is still permitted for ducks that cause, or have the potential to cause, damage to crops.
NT - Recreational duck hunting is permitted.
SA - Recreational duck hunting is permitted.
TAS - Recreational duck hunting is permitted.
VIC - Recreational duck hunting is permitted.
WA - Recreational duck hunting was banned in 1990. Shooting is still permitted on properties where ducks are causing damage to dams or waterways.
How many ducks are shot?
No overall figure for the number of ducks shot is available, however an estimate can be made of the number shot and bagged (retrieved by the hunter).
The Victorian Department of Natural Resources and Environment calculate seasonal duck kills from the number of active duck hunters and bag limits each year.
In the period 1987-97 the average number of ducks killed per year was estimated at 772,000.
If this 10-year estimate is extrapolated to account for the 4,250 licensed duck hunters outside Victoria, the number of ducks shot and bagged by duck hunters each year across Australia is over 900,000.
How many ducks are crippled or wounded?
It is estimated that between 594,000 and 900,000 ducks are crippled or wounded every year as a result of duck hunting activities. In addition, approximately 900,000 ducks are killed outright.
What species and how many ducks can be shot?
There are ten different species of native duck that can be hunted in Australia (Table 1), although only two of these species (Pacific black duck and grey teal) can be shot in every state where duck hunting is still permitted. Each state sets its own laws to control which species can be shot and which species are protected, as well as setting limits (known as bag limits) on the maximum number of birds that can be shot and retrieved by a single hunter on any one day (Table 2).
An annual survey of duck populations in Eastern Australia is carried out jointly by NSW, Victoria, SA and CSIRO Wildlife and Ecology. The survey assesses the possible impact of hunters and the effects of available wetland habitat on waterbird populations. The results of this survey are used to assess which species will be included in the open season and what bag limits will be set.
Waterfowl Identification Test
The Waterfowl Identification Test (WIT) examines shooters on their ability to recognise individual game bird species. Since its introduction in a number of states there has been a reduction in the recorded shooting of protected birds during the duck hunting season, but this is also attributable to the change in firearms legislation and a drop in hunter numbers. The use of identification testing is no guarantee that protected species will not be shot. In the Northern Territory there is no identification test and little is know about what species are taken since records are not collected and hunting is so difficult to police.
What can you do to help the RSPCA kill the sport of Duck Hunting?
Vote now on our online poll to register your opposition to duck hunting.
Write or email the Hon. David Llewellyn, Minister for Primary Industries and Water
1st Floor, Franklin Square Offices, Hobart Tas 7000
