BirdLife Australia remains deeply concerned with the South Australian Government’s ongoing support for unsustainable recreational native bird hunting.
Australian waterbirds are already on the brink. Recreational hunting adds an unnecessary pressure to waterbird populations. The annual Eastern Australian Waterbird Surveys show waterbird populations have declined as much as 90% over the last forty years across eastern Australia.
The impacts extend beyond the birds that are hunted. Disturbance of wetlands can disrupt critical Brolga flocking, destroy breeding sites for spoonbills and herons, and depletes the energy of migratory shorebirds forced to flee instead of preparing for epic journeys.
The imminent arrival of H5 bird flu means that Australia needs to bolster waterbird populations, not decimate them with recreational hunting.
Recreational native bird hunting in South Australia must end if we are serious about protecting threatened species and restoring native waterbird populations to healthy levels in eastern Australia.
BirdLife Australia urges the Malinauskas Government to ban recreational bird hunting once and for all.
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