Distressing find at Victorian lake after shooters pack up campsites
Four days after Victoria's controversial duck season ended, rescuers discovered an injured bird in the shallows of a muddy lake.
A badly injured duck has been discovered on a northern Victorian wetland, four days after the last shooters packed up their campsites.
Craig Davey, a volunteer with Coalition Against Duck Shooting, was using a kayak to search for injured birds across muddy Lake Wooroonook on June 3 when he spotted the distressed wood duck.
“We noticed it flapping along the water and unable to fly, so we followed. A couple of times it dived away from us, so we herded it towards the shore and caught it,” he told Yahoo News Australia.
X-rays taken at a local vet clinic revealed the male wood duck’s body was riddled with five shotgun pellets and his wounds were too severe for him to survive. He was one of several injured waterbirds observed by volunteer rescuers who have been searching dozens of lakes for survivors since Duck Season ended on May 30.
Thousands of birds wounded each season
The 2023 season was significantly shorter this year, with the Victorian government admitting there are concerns about rates of bird wounding and poor behaviour by some hunters.
There are also issues with declining water bird numbers, and non-target species being gunned down. The RSPCA estimated the season would claim the lives of 87,000 birds.
Despite regulations requiring shooters to take “all reasonable efforts” to recover injured birds, many are left to die in the wetlands.
“The birds that aren’t recovered will die horrible death out of wetlands,” Mr Davey said. “They can get infections in the wounds where the pellets have entered their bodies. They slowly get weaker and weaker, meaning they’re open to predation from foxes and eagles.”
More on duck season 2023
Urgent call to protect rare birds as shooters descend on Victorian lake
'Disgraceful' find inside tree sparks outrage during controversial duck season
100 dead ducks dumped in front of Premier Dan Andrews' office
Only the 'lucky' birds get found
Gary Ward from Snake Valley Wildlife Shelter was with Mr Davey when the injured duck was found. He said it’s difficult to cover the hundreds of lakes across the state effectively. The volunteers have observed other wounded waterbirds, but while they’re still able to fly it’s impossible to catch them.
“Some of them with an obvious injury to one wing will still flap away. It’s only the lucky ones that get caught,” Mr Ward said. “No doubt there are countless others across the state that will never get seen. They’ll just land in a paddock somewhere and never be found.”
Victoria, along with South Australia and Tasmania, are the only remaining states to permit an annual duck season. Research shows around 66 per cent of Victorians oppose it, and there is currently a state government inquiry underway into its future.
Rescuers expect to continue searching for wounded birds over the next two to three weeks.
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