Hi all,
As some contributors have mentioned, Victoria's duck shooting season has
been cancelled this year.
The ban does not appear to extend to Quail hunting.
Whilst Stubble Quail numbers used to be high on the plains of northern
Victoria and southern NSW, much of the land previously used for
sheep-grazing has gone under the plough, and the result has been a crash in
the number of Stubble Quail.
Once a paddock is ploughed, much of the original flora and fauna is lost
and species diversity is unlikely to recover. Although it is illegal, the
ploughing of indigenous grasslands continues. Shire and DSE oficers have
undertaken a publicity campaign and have spoken with individual
land-holders to help address the loss of indigenous grasslands.
Trust for Nature (Victoria), National Parks NSW and Parks Victoria have
purchased some of the remaining indigenous grassland paddocks. A few years
back, a large grassland property was purchased and added to Terrick Terrick
State Park (a Box-Callitris Pine woodland) to create Terrick Terrick
National Park. Another national park is Oolambeyan National Park north of
Conargo (in the NSW Riverina).
Stubble Quail populations are becoming fragmented and concentrated on a few
fragments of suitable habitat. Victoria's Northern Plains Conservation
Management Network (a group of local land-holders and agency
representatives) claims that 'these areas are sought out by shooters as
prime hunting ground'.
According to the Network, anecdotal evidence and observation from a wide
range of people ~ including grassland ecologists, farmers and hunters ~
suggests that Stubble Quail numbers have become severely depleted.
Although there appear to have been no recent surveys to assess the current
population of Stubble Quail, hunting continues unabated.
The Network is also concerned about the impact of quail hunting on other
grassland fauna. These grasslands contain populations of the endangered
Plains-wanderer. Some have, according to Network members, been mistaken for
Stubble Quail and shot.
Little Button-quail and Red-chested Button-quail, which occur on these
grasslands, are placed at risk by Stubble Quail hunting, there being no
identification test required to obtain a quail hunting permit.
Despite their name, Stubble Quail spend much of the time on indigenous
grasslands rather than in crop stubble.
P.S. As I write, welcome rain is falling in Echuca-Moama. Too late for the
remaining Banksias of Barmah-Millewa forest though ~ every one of the
remaining Banksia trees appears to have died as a result of the long,
lingering drought. The Box trees, however, seem to have relished the dry
conditions. Similarly, some bird species have coped better than others.
Keith Stockwell
Echuca-Moama
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