Ban recommended on recreational native bird hunting

BirdLife Australia welcomes the recommendation by the Select Committee on Victoria’s Recreational Native Bird Hunting Arrangements for a ban on further native duck and quail hunting. We urge the Andrews Government to follow this advice, and to pass the ban.

Recreational native bird hunting in Victoria must end if we are serious about restoring native waterbird populations to healthy levels in eastern Australia.

The Eastern Australian Waterbird Survey shows waterbird populations have declined as much as 90% over the last forty years in eastern Australia, including those duck species identified as ‘game’ which are at only 25% their long-term average numbers.

As BirdLife Australia’s National Public Affairs Manager, Sean Dooley, stated to the Select Committee Inquiry, while habitat loss from climate change and poor water resource management are key factors in the declines of wetland birds, “the trouble with having a duck season is that it has a multiplier effect on these events that are driving a decline in our waterbird species.” Mr Dooley noted that in Victoria, “the average number of ducks that are declared to be shot each season has over the last 10 years averaged about 300,000. Taking that number of waterbirds out of the system as they are trying to recover is seeing a constant decline in our waterbird species.”

The Andrews Government has six months to respond to the Select Committee recommendations. BirdLife Australia urges the Government not to ignore the Inquiry, and to ban recreational native bird hunting in Victoria.

Add your voice, by signing our petition calling on the Andrews Government to accept the Inquiry’s recommendations, and to ban recreational native bird hunting in Victoria.