Duck hunting and bird flu

With waterbirds struggling under the shadow of H5 bird flu and a host of other threats, the opening of duck-hunting season in Victoria and South Australia seems like a cruel joke. Tanya Loos explains the urgent need to build resilience in vulnerable species as the best way to combat H5 bird flu. 

Calm before the storm

Living in the foothill forests I really appreciate my occasional wetland visits. In early summer I spent some time at the small but lively Lake Lorne, Geelong Victoria. I sat there eating my lunch in the shade, watching two Royal Spoonbills preen serenely in breeding plumage, and the gentle movements of several species of duck foraging for vegetation and invertebrates in the rich water. The overall sense was of profound interspecies collegiality. 

And yet, as avian influenza response coordinator at Birdlife Australia, I enjoyed my lake visit with a niggle of unreality and possible impending doom—as the waterbirds in this lake’s peaceful scene are likely to be susceptible to outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza otherwise known as H5 bird flu.  At the time of writing, Oceania (Australia and NZ) is still free of H5 bird flu—but the virus is hopping about the sub-Antarctic region and a mainland arrival could be a matter of time.  

Preparing for bird flu

The overseas experience has shown us that not all that much can be done to prevent outbreaks or reduce the number of deaths from H5 bird flu in susceptible species such as waterbirds, shorebirds and seabirds. The virus is swift and brutal in some species and there is presently no cure.  

But hope is not lost. What we know is that a happy bird is more likely to be a healthy bird. A stressed bird not only has a weaker immune response but sheds more virus, increasing the likelihood of spread. If we can build resilient populations with secure food sources, ample habitat and less disturbance, our unique waterbirds are more likely to weather the storm. 

In light of this, the announcement of yet another duck hunting season in Victoria and South Australia is extremely disappointing.  

A cut our birds don’t need

Readers of Australian Birdlife will know the reasons why duck hunting for recreation is unacceptable – the welfare impacts on shot and injured birds, the killing of non-target species such as endangered Freckled Duck, the environmental and animal health impacts of rubbish and lead shot left behind by hunters, and the disturbance to all of the species at the lake or wetland—not just waterfowl. Disturbance doesn’t sound as serious as direct killing – but for a waterbird that has travelled 12,000 kilometres the need to safely find food and rest is a life-or-death matter. DUck hunting is a high impact and indiscriminate cause of disturbance, and the accumulated stress encountered over four months of shooting takes its toll. 

We can now add H5 bird flu preparedness to this grim list.  

Boosting resilience in waterbirds, shorebirds and seabirds is about reducing the threat of extinction—by reducing or removing the threats these birds face. 

Many of these threats are complex and cumulative—climate change, sea-level rise, habitat destruction (here and in other countries along migratory pathways) and pervasive predation from invasive species. Add complex socio- political aspects such as water allocations and it’s death by a thousand cuts 

Duck hunting is recreational. A parlimentary enquiry established that Victorians are overwhelmingly against it. It is a cut our birds don’t need to endure. In the preparedness effort for H5 bird flu the cessation of recreational duck hunting in Victoria and South Australia is an easy win—a threat to waterbirds that can be eliminated by one (or two) strokes of the Parliamentary pen.