birding-aus

Duck Shooting in NSW

To: Peter Shute <>, "Philip A. Veerman" <>, Birding Aus <>
Subject: Duck Shooting in NSW
From: Denise Goodfellow <>
Date: Wed, 26 Jun 2013 10:24:53 +0930
They probably look for the pink ear!
Denise

On 26/6/13 8:23 AM, "Peter Shute" <> wrote:

> Philip, are you suggesting that shooters might have trouble recognising a
> Pink-eared Duck? I would have thought there were few ducks that were so
> distinctive. In Victoria at least, shooters have to pass an identification
> test.
> 
> Peter Shute
> 
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: 
>>  On Behalf Of
>> Philip Veerman
>> Sent: Tuesday, 25 June 2013 10:31 PM
>> To: 
>> Subject: [Birding-Aus] Duck Shooting in NSW
>> 
>> All that makes sense but surely the relevant part of the
>> reason is to pander to people who do not have the skills or
>> interest to recognise this species (or probably several other
>> ones), so that the system does not get involved in debating
>> whether someone made an identification or shooting error. The
>> bureaucracy would have a hard task prosecuting that, given
>> the likely defence. I would suspect that as the reason rather
>> than what it eats or that it associates with other waterfowl
>> species that do harm crops, which is of course a cop out.
>> Maybe it does not help that it has a name that refers to a
>> feature barely visible at shooting range.
>> 
>> Philip
>> 
>> 
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: 
>>  On Behalf Of
>> Chris King
>> Sent: Tuesday, 25 June 2013 4:53 PM
>> To: Erica Trinder
>> Cc: Birding Aus
>> Subject: Re: [Birding-Aus] Duck Shooting in NSW
>> 
>> 
>>  Hi Erica
>> 
>> It is dismal. At the risk of being political, below is part
>> of an email from the National Parks Association (a not for
>> profit group, not associated with the government National
>> Parks) showing that at least there is some opposition and
>> that other groups care about the pink-eared ducks in NSW!
>> 
>> Chris
>> 
>> 
>> "In the last two years, the NSW government has made a series
>> of alarming environmental decisions that seriously threaten
>> the future of our national parks and wildlife. Many of these
>> decisions are based on political deals made with the Shooters
>> and Fishers Party, rather than credible scientific evidence.
>> 
>>  Nothing illustrates this quite as clearly as the case of the
>> Pink-eared
>> Duck<http://npansw.us7.list-manage.com/track/click?u=42506f067
> 3a573cdc6034c9
>> ec&id=6808d64a1c&e=30cd68c91f>.
>> This beautiful Australian bird has recently been added to the
>> list of native game species that can be legally hunted on
>> private land in NSW. According to the Legislation, ducks can
>> only be shot for the purposes of 'sustainable agricultural
>> management', primarily to protect rice crops. However, the
>> scientific literature indicates that the Pink-eared Duck is
>> an insect eater and doesn't consume rice or other crops. In
>> reality the Pink-eared Duck serves as a farmer's friend,
>> preying on insects that are major rice pests.
>> If left unharmed this unique little duck could even help
>> reduce pesticide use on these crops.
>> 
>>  Based on the species feeding habits, the NPA provided
>> evidence for a recent private member's Bill calling for
>> Pink-eared Ducks to be removed from the list of native game
>> birds. However, despite clear scientific evidence that the
>> decision to cull this species is fatally flawed, the
>> government will not support the Bill, claiming that the
>> Pink-eared Duck associate with other waterfowl species that
>> do harm crops. So for no other reason than that they "hang
>> out" with the wrong crowd the government has made it legal to
>> shoot this unique native species.
>> 
>>  We use this example to highlight how bad recent
>> environmental decisions have been in NSW and why we fear for
>> the future. If this was not ominous enough a serious new
>> threat is now emerging out of the recent inquiry into the
>> management of public lands, chaired by Shooters and Fishers
>> MLC Robert Brown, whose recommendations include opening
>> national parks to logging, and imposing a moratorium on the
>> creation of new national parks.
>> 
>>  With the help of our supporters, NPA has been driving a
>> successful high profile campaign against hunting in national
>> parks that has helped delay the start of the program.
>> However, as you have just read hunting is no longer the only
>> major threat our parks and environment face and we need to
>> broaden our campaign to tackle these new, emerging dangers.
>> 
>>   *Please make a donation and help us to protect our national
>> parks **and unique species, such as the Pink-eared Duck, for
>> future generations to
>> enjoy."*
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> On Mon, Jun 24, 2013 at 11:17 PM, Erica Trinder
>> <>wrote:
>> 
>>> Hi,
>>> 
>>> I was wondering what people think / feel / know about recreational
>>> shooting of NSW waterbirds?
>>> 
>>> When I say recreational shooting, that's what it of course
>> is. But it 
>>> is being politically disguised under the "pest management"
>> banner by 
>>> the O'Farrell government. They're calling it a cull! Yet
>> they have now 
>>> added the pink-eared duck to the hit list. Despite the fact
>> they are 
>>> claiming they are doing this cull for the rice and grain farmers
>>> (claiming the birds eat their crops), yet the pink-eared duck eats
>>> insects, not grains.
>>> 
>>> For more on the latest from the O'Farrell government giving in to
>>> every desire of the 2 Upper House NSW Shooters MP's, see:
>>> 
>>> 
>> http://www.smh.com.au/environment/animals/duck-season-puts-ofarrell-in
>>> -crosshairs-20130621-2onxa.html
>>> 
>>> I'm very interested in people's thoughts and comments on this topic.
>>> 
>>> My interest in this is that I care deeply for all animals, and will
>>> fight to the death for them. I've been going down to
>> Victoria for many
>>> years to protect and rescue our native water birds during
>> the annual 
>>> duck shooting season. However, the state of things in NSW is quite
>>> possibly a whole lot worse, as it takes place on private
>> property all 
>>> year round, where it can't be monitored. I've heard
>> terrible stories
>>> of as many as 3000 birds being killed (I hate to think how
>> many were 
>>> not killed outright, but seriously
>>> wounded) in a single days shooting on a single property. But no one
>>> aside from the shooters and farmers really knows exactly
>> what's going 
>>> on...and they're certainly not telling. I'd appreciate the thoughts
>>> and knowledge
>> of
>>> people in the bird loving community.
>>> 
>>> --
>>> Erica Trinder
>>> CatRescue Coordinator
>>> (m) 0416 741 020
>>> (e) 
>>> (w) www.catrescue.com.au
>>> (f) Like CatRescue NSW on Facebook
>>> <http://www.facebook.com/CatRescueNSW>
>>> ===============================
>> 
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