In addition to clear cruelty, a survey conducted by the hunting regulator — the Game Management Authority — has revealed shockingly few shooters in Victoria understand hunting rules.

The ‘recreational’ slaughter of waterbirds is inconceivably still on Premier Daniel Andrews’ agenda, even considering worsening environmental conditions, waterbird populations plummeting towards catastrophic failure, and habitats that are struggling to recover after devastating bushfires and years of drought. These issues alone should mean the end of duck shooting in the state — but it gets worse. Shocking new information has come to light highlighting further risks of letting a season go ahead.

The recent report — Summary report of hunters’ knowledge survey findings — exposed duck shooters in Victoria for having an appalling lack of knowledge — in fact the lowest of all hunter types in the state — when it comes to firearm regulations and duck shooting requirements.

Thousands of shooters were surveyed, and the results are damning. Of all duck shooters surveyed:

• Fewer than 4 out of 100 could answer all questions correctly when asked about animal welfare, waterbird identification and safety;
• 3 out of 5 don’t know how to shoot to minimise wounding;
• 84% don’t know how to kill ducks they have shot and injured;
• 85% don’t understand the safety risks associated with firing at ducks at close-range.

For years Premier Andrews has said he supports duck hunting “provided the rules are followed”. For him to allow a season to go ahead in light of these findings would not only be cruel and reckless — but dangerous. It would mean letting shooters onto the wetlands who lack the most basic knowledge when it comes to animal welfare, and risk personal and public safety

Animals Australia has put forward an urgent and detailed submission to the Game Management Authority outlining why a season cannot go ahead, and we’ve written urgently to the Victorian Environment Minister highlighting the same.

Now we need these decision-makers to hear from you to reinforce just how many people want them to end this cruelty.

Each year the voices of Victorians calling for precious wildlife to be protected and habitats preserved far outnumber those of an increasingly tiny minority who choose to harm native ducks for the sake of ‘fun’. As our voices become louder, the reasons to end duck shooting become more critical.

Please urge the Premier Daniel Andrews to step up and end duck shooting in Victoria — if not for the cruelty, at least to protect waterbird populations in crisis and regional communities at risk. But, above all, because our wildlife deserve better.

Take action now for native waterbirds »

The post EXPOSED: Shocking new duck shooter findings appeared first on Animals Australia.

ABC has reported on the disgraceful behaviour of duck shooters, who have been permitted by Premier Daniel Andrews to descend upon delicate wetland sanctuaries to maim and kill native waterbirds… for ‘fun.’

Watch the story here:

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After the easing of COVID-19 community safety restrictions, the Premier continues to push the message, ‘if you can stay at home, you must stay at home’… but is also allowing shooters to travel to regional communities, shotguns in tow, with the sole purpose of killing wildlife.

As many Victorians welcomed the opportunity to reunite with loved ones, a tiny minority set out to blast native waterbirds out of the sky. Even with record low numbers of shooters this year, almost immediately came the reports of littering, illegal camping, animal cruelty, breaching of social distancing rules and drug use.

And yet, the Premier continues to allow this brutal abuse of wildlife — apparently, because of perceived fears of losing the ‘gun vote’.

Join us in telling the Premier that by siding with a tiny minority of people who enjoy hurting and killing native animals — he has picked the wrong side.

1. If you live in Victoria, click here to speak up
2. If you live outside of Victoria, click here to speak up

The post Drugs, guns & animal cruelty – Victoria’s duck shooting season exposed on ABC appeared first on Animals Australia.

Following the massacre of protected species in the 2017 duck shooting season, the Victorian Government instructed an independent report to be undertaken into the Game Management Authority (GMA). The findings of this report were damning — revealing that that there is no effective oversight during the Victorian duck shooting season. Instead, wetlands are being destroyed and hunting laws are being broken. The report also revealed that flimsy licensing requirements allow untrained and untested hunters to handle and shoot dangerous guns, illegal shooting of waterbirds is pervasive throughout Victorian wetlands, and the Game Management Authority has a major conflict of interest being simultaneously a promoter and regulator of duck shooting… leaving our precious native wildlife and peaceful regional communities to suffer terribly as a result. Download a copy of the report here.

Pictured: 810 native waterbirds found shot and abandoned in just the first two days of the 2017 duck shooting season.

Duck shooters are required to sit a 22 question ‘Waterfowl Identification Test’. You can pass this test with just 75% accuracy — and you only need to sit it once — meaning some shooters may not have taken the test for 25 years. Juniors (i.e. 12 to 17 year olds) and non-Australian residents are not required to sit the test — so adolescents and international visitors can legally fire shotguns at waterbirds without demonstrating any knowledge of which species are protected. Only weeks into the 2016 duck shooting season, ‘protected’ species were massacred. The same happened again in 2017, with 113 freckled ducks (one of the world’s rarest species of waterbird) slaughtered by shooters. 68 of these endangered waterbirds were found dead on the opening weekend of the three month season — and these are just the ones that were found.

A shotgun fires a cluster of up to 200 pellets simultaneously which gradually spread out in a cloud-like pattern that increases in diameter the further it moves away from the gun. This means that a bird may be hit by only one or two pellets in the cloud’s outer perimeter, which is enough to injure but not instantly kill. An estimated 50,000 birds are injured every season and can suffer enormously for hours or even days before death. Not even the most skilled marksman can prevent this. After shooters were once again exposed during the 2017 season for shooting at waterbirds and failing to retrieve them, the retrieval of shot birds has been reinforced as mandatory during the 2018 season. But with an independent report revealing that there is no effective oversight of shooters, this rule is impossible to enforce — and waterbirds with shotgun injuries will inevitably be abandoned to suffer slow, agonising deaths.

Pictured: this endangered Freckled Duck suffered a broken wing after being hit with three shotgun pellets. Image courtesy Lort Smith Animal Hospital.

Duck hunters don’t have to pass a compulsory shooting accuracy test — despite the Government’s own data revealing shooters are likely to cause injury rates of up to 30%. The development of an accuracy improvement course for shooters was funded by tax payers, but attracted little interest from shooters. Fewer than one hundred shooters are believed to have attended the one day course — yet more than 26,000 duck shooters are licensed for the 2018 season.

Most Australians abhor the thought of canned hunting in Africa — wild animals like lions shot in an enclosure, thus guaranteeing a ‘kill’ for the trophy hunter. The animals never stand a chance — and soon, neither will many of Victoria’s native waterbirds.

After years of drought, few of Victoria’s wetlands are filled with water. These wetlands are populated with increased concentrations of waterbirds that have flocked there in search of refuge. With so few options, these desperate animals are effectively captive populations — and in a cruel twist, some wetlands may be artificially filled with water, which attracts more birds, only for them to be then shot out of the sky.

Of the six species of native ducks that are legally allowed to be shot, not a single species was observed breeding in 2018. That’s right, NO breeding of native waterbirds whatsoever. And to make matters worse — one third of all birds killed on opening weekend in 2017 were juveniles, which is why populations aren’t bouncing back… because when waterbirds do actually breed, their young are then slaughtered by shooters.

Pictured: a juvenile heron — a protected species — illegally shot during the 2017 duck shooting season.

The Andrews government’s claims that duck shooting brings in millions to Victoria are grossly misleading. A recent independent economic analysis has found no evidence that duck shooting contributes to Victoria’s economy*.

*’A review of ‘Estimating the economic impact of hunting in Victoria in 2013’ by Dr Kristy Jones, February 2016

Governments are supposed to listen to the people. But instead of listening to the vast majority of Victorians who want duck shooting banned, they are bowing to a radical minority of shooters. This is an abuse of our wetlands, an abuse of animals and a betrayal of trust — and it’s not just people in metropolitan Victoria who think so. Tired of hearing from the government that duck shooting is ‘good’ for their towns, regional Victorians are finding their voice. They are speaking out about the negative impact duck hunting has on their communities, homes and businesses … that just 0.4% of the population engage in duck shooting and this number decreases every year. Polling reinforces that the vast majority of Victorians from city to country want duck shooting to end.

It’s not only the ‘game’ ducks that suffer — all animals seeking sanctuary on the wetlands will be traumatised and terrorised under the barrage of shotgun-fire. There may be 70 bird species (some who are breeding) in one wetland, whereas only seven can be targeted by shooters. Other animals like wombats, echidnas, frogs, and platypus may live in and around wetlands, and will be affected by this violent intrusion into their home.

Help save native ducks!

Flimsy licensing requirements allow untrained and untested hunters to handle and shoot dangerous guns. Illegal shooting of waterbirds is pervasive throughout Victorian wetlands. And the Victorian Government’s Game Management Authority has a major conflict of interest being simultaneously a promoter and regulator of duck shooting… leaving our precious native wildlife and peaceful regional communities to suffer terribly as a result.

Enough is enough. Live in Victoria? Urge Premier Daniel Andrews to represent the vast majority of Victorians who want duck shooting banned!

Live outside of Victoria? Click here to speak out against duck shooting cruelty!

The post 9 facts duck shooters don’t want you to know appeared first on Animals Australia.