Discovery of nearly 200 dead ducks dumped in pit reignites debate over hunting

Laurn Day from the ABC reported that anti duck protesters have discovered 200 dead ducks the Kooangie State Game Reserve.

Footage shot by the Coalition Against Duck Shooting (CADS) shows piles of ducks being dug up from the pits.

They say that the discovery shows that some hunters are shooting above their 10-bird a day bag limit.

7.30 visited the site in Victoria’s north with the protesters and asked the Coalition Against Duck Shooting’s Luke Milroy how he would respond to claims the bird-pit find was merely a stunt by activists to try to close down the industry.

“I just know the truth so I just try to ignore it [the counter-claims] really,” he said.

“It happens every year, where the hunters blame botulism or rescuers killing birds. Which is just ridiculous, because we’re all animal lovers and we love our native waterbirds so much.”

This news comes just one week after the Victorias Game Management Authority discovered around 100 protected birds had been killed at the reserve. The GMA soon closed duck hunting at the reserve.

In an interview with 7.30 the Game Management Authority’s Brian Hine also revealed that the dead and injured birds had prompted his organisation to review duck hunting licence arrangements.

“Our responsibility as a game management authority is to ensure that hunting in Victoria remains sustainable and responsible, and this indicates clearly neither,” he said

7.30 also asked Brian Hine to review the footage of the bird pits shot by CADS.

He said while it was not illegal to bury whole birds, it was clearly unethical.

“It’s possible there were a number of hunters there who shot their legal entitlement of birds who don’t value the bird and don’t value the meat and then buried them,” he told 7.30.

“It’s also a likelihood that they have potentially shot 10 birds on the day, their legal bag limit, and these birds have been

above their bag limits.”

Mr Hine said, either way, it was extremely concerning.

Knowing the lengths that these CADS would go too I can not help but feel that they are extreme enough to do this dirty work themselves. You could only hope that hunters are not capable of acts like this which could potentially close down their past time.