Hi Victoria,
Runoff from the bushfire areas will inevitably enter, and pollute, waterways
and some of these would be duck habitat.
The main problem with counting ducks is that most species are nomadic and a
large number in a given area at one time may be the result of movement away
from drought affected areas and into better watered areas. Any census
would need to be continent wide and this is difficult. Even if duck numbers
in a particular area were lower following a duck hunting season it doesn't
prove that hunting was the cause. In saying this some censusing is done by
Richard Kingsford and others but it is really only an overview of the
population and couldn't be used to prove that hunting at a particular
location caused local declines.
Habitat restoration is being done in some areas and shouldn't be linked to
the right of a section of the community to hunt native ducks for sport.
Sporting shooters have a great variety of feral species to hunt and the
regular drought conditions in Australia place a heavy pressure on our
waterfowl, unlike some other countries where duck hunting is considered a
right.
Greg Clancy
Coutts Crossing
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