Tasmania activists accuse duck hunters of ‘intimidation’ after dead wallaby and bags of urine found at camp
- ‘We are just trying to give the ducks a fighting chance,’ said activist after talking to hunters and trying to scare the birds away from a lake
Tasmanian anti-duck hunting activists say they have been intimidated after a dead wallaby and bags of human urine were left around their campsite.
Chris Simcox and a small group of campaigners tried to disrupt the first day of Tasmania’s official duck hunting season on Saturday at Moulting Lagoon Game Reserve on the state’s east coast.
The campaigners visited the lagoon early in the morning, talking to shooters and trying to scare ducks away from the area.
When they returned to their camp, they found a dead wallaby near their cars, and rubbish and bags of urine strewn around.
“We are just trying to give the ducks a fighting chance,” Simcox said. “What we are doing is completely legal. We are abiding by directives issued by the police and by parks and wildlife staff.
“We set up on the Friday night, we camped overnight. We headed to the lagoon and came back mid-morning. We found a dead wallaby carcass near one of our vehicles, we found what looked like human urine, a little bit spread around and tipped on our camping gear. And a number of bags of rubbish tipped around, a few feed bags.”
Duck season is open in Tasmania between March 9 and June 10 this year. Five species can be legally hunted during that period: the Pacific black duck, chestnut teal, grey teal, mountain duck or shelduck and the Australian wood duck.
Victoria’s duck hunting season runs from March 16 to May 19, and South Australia’s from March 16 to June 30.