2017-03-17
Who: Sue Pennicuik MLC, Victorian Greens Animal Welfare spokesperson
When: Saturday 18 March, from sunrise onwards
Where: North West Victoria
Victorian Greens Animal Welfare spokesperson Sue Pennicuik MLC will again attend the opening of the duck shooting season.
"It is so very disappointing that the Andrews government has allowed a full, 12-week, duck shooting season to go ahead this year when studies show that water bird numbers are declining across Australia,” Ms Pennicuik said today.
“Despite an increase in breeding of some species last year, the overall trend is declining numbers of waterbirds across Australia,” Ms Pennicuik said.
The 2016 aerial survey of wetland birds in eastern Australia found that the total number of waterbirds was the lowest on record (34 years) and the number of ‘game species’ was well below long-term averages.
“The breeding indexes for so-called ‘game species’ - birds that can be shot in Victoria, such as the Pacific black duck, the grey teal, the chestnut teal, the Australian wood duck and the pink-eared duck, have been falling steadily since the late 1980s. “With this information to hand, it is unbelievable that the Andrews government, which should be protecting our struggling native waterbirds, would allow another duck shooting season to go ahead rather than give our waterbirds a chance to recover.
“Duck shooting is barbaric and should be banned, as it is New South Wales, Western Australia and Queensland,” Ms Pennicuik said.
For further comment: Sue Pennicuik: 03 9530 8399