http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5478,18499027%255E1702,00.html
Games duck in anti-hunting push
By Catherine Best
17mar06
A DUCK'S centre-stage role in the Commonwealth Games opening ceremony left
many puzzled, but animal lovers are trying to turn it to their advantage.
Campaigners opposed to duck shooting want to know how ducks can be a Games
symbol on Wednesday, and the target of shooters from tomorrow, when the
hunting season begins.
The start of Victoria's annual duck shooting season has long been
controversial, but the inclusion in the Games ceremony of Ping, a four-month
old Pekin duck, has added a new element.
Ping's appearance was inspired by cartoonist and poet Michael Leunig, who
uses ducks in his work.
Coalition Against Duck Shooting campaign director Laurie Levy said it was
totally unacceptable for the Victorian Government to sanction the slaughter
of an animal it had earlier revered.
"The reaction to Leunig's duck has been amazing, just wonderful," Mr Levy
said.
"The duck stole the limelight and became the hero of the night and to have
the Bracks Government ..., three days later, allow the slaughter of native
(duck) species is totally unacceptable."
Mr Levy described the blood sport as environmental vandalism, saying the
Government had bowed to pressure from hunters by extending the season to
three months, increasing bag limits from five birds to seven, and including
the vulnerable blue-winged shovel on this year's hit list.
He seized on a study which showed duck numbers were declining as a result of
drought and said their slaughter could not be condoned in the 21st century.
"The Victorian Government doesn't make decisions based on sustainable or
environmental advice, it purely makes political decisions," Mr Levy said.
A spokesman for Environment Minister John Thwaites said the decision was
backed by a scientific study, and that bag limits had been reduced from a
maximum of 10 birds in recent years in light of the drought.
He would not comment on the irony of shooting an animal that had become a
symbol of the Games.
"It's unrelated but they have happened close together so I can see why
people are drawing the connection," spokesman Geoff Fraser said.
"DSE (Department of Sustainability and Environment) is proceeding after
comprehensive scientific evaluations of the environment and bird numbers.
"While environment and water conditions are better than last year, a reduced
bag limit remains in place."
Protesters are expected to clash with duck shooters tomorrow as up to 1000
hunters converge on wetlands near Kerang, in northwest Victoria.
Mr Levy said more than 150 animal rescuers and a mobile veterinary clinic
would be stationed at Lake Murphy in a bid to protect the ducks.
He said dead birds would again be dumped on the doorstep of Premier Steve
Bracks, who has come under pressure from a coalition of MPs within his own
party to end duck shooting.
The recreational blood sport is banned in NSW, Queensland and Western
Australia.
University of NSW professor of environmental science, Richard Kingsford,
conducted an aerial wetland survey last October and said there were "serious
issues" confronting the state's birdlife.
Comment was being sought from Field and Game Australia.
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