"Impossible to justify" - RSPCA SA condemns the cruelty as hunt season begins.
The state's 2025 duck hunting season began on Saturday and observers have provided RSPCA South Australia with video footage filmed during the opening weekend at Lake George, located near Beachport in the state's south-east.
In the footage, hunters can be seen:
• Continuing to shoot at ducks instead of immediately retrieving and killing ducks they have wounded
• Killing wounded ducks using the prohibited method of windmilling (swinging ducks around by their necks)
Observers claim to have witnessed hunters tossing their (shot) injured ducks behind their hides without first confirming the ducks were dead. They also claimed to have seen rubbish scattered around camping areas and the lake, located within Beachport Conservation Park.
Regulatory officers from DEW (Department of Environment and Water) were also present at Lake George on the weekend. Observers report that the number of regulatory staff was higher than at previous opening weekends, a change welcomed by RSPCA SA.
"The fact that the state's regulator appears to have allocated significantly increased resources to monitor native duck shooting is evidence that the government recognises the significant regulatory and animal welfare risks inherent to this recreational activity," RSPCA SA Animal Welfare Advocate Dr Rebekah Eyers said.
The RSPCA, the Australian Veterinary Association (AVA) and the majority of South Australians1 want South Australia to follow Western Australia, NSW and Queensland in banning the recreational activity due to its unavoidably high wounding rate. In its policy position statement, the AVA also cites the disruption caused to nesting species due to the noise and movement of shooters through their habitats.
Despite wide support for a ban, in January the state government announced another three-month season3 when native bird species that are usually protected are allowed to be shot. The season began on Saturday 22 March and ends on Sunday 29 June 2025, with hunters allowed to kill up to six ducks a day. Five species are permitted to be shot by permit holders, including a limit of two Australian shelduck, also known as mountain duck. (See Background Information below.)
"Studies have shown that our native ducks are already struggling with the impacts of climate change, drought, diminishing habitat and now the looming threat of bird flu," Dr Eyers said.
"The Victorian government has closed many wetlands in their state's north to shooters to minimise the risk of bird flu spread, but the SA government decided to allow this recreational activity to go ahead despite the risk.
"The RSPCA does not oppose meat consumption but does oppose a means of gathering meat that causes significant
suffering due to high wounding rates.
Based on government data collected from previous duck hunting seasons in SA, RSPCA SA estimates that around 35,000 native ducks will be shot in the state's wetlands during this year's hunting season. Of these, at least a quarter (approximately 9000) are likely to be injured, and will die slowly and painfully unless found and retrieved
(by hunters or duck rescuers) to be humanely killed. The high wounding rate is the unavoidable consequence of shooting flying animals with pellets sprayed from a shotgun.
"Every year for the last three years, regulators have received complaints from members of the public who have captured shocking images, alleging serious breaches of the Animal Welfare Act and other regulations," Dr Eyers said.
"But shooters are not required to wear identification, so it's almost impossible to hold them accountable for their cruelty"
"Given everything else stacked against this vulnerable wildlife right now, it's impossible to justify the decision to again let shooters into their habitats to blast away at them."
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
In 2024, 1,405 duck hunting and 240 quail hunting permits were issued in South Australia. Approximately one third of South Australian duck and quail hunting permits are held by interstate hunters.
The latest Eastern Australian Waterbird Survey (conducted annually by the University of NSW) found all game species of ducks had abundances below their long-term averages. The declining species that are permitted to be hunted in SA in 2025 are: Pacific Black Duck; Grey Teal; Australian Shelduck (Mountain Duck); Australian Wood Duck Grey Teal and Pacific Black Duck are the species most commonly shot. In 2024, shooters participating in SA's hunting season reported birds bagged as follows:
- Grey Teal 45.4%
- Pacific Black Duck 28.6%
- Chestnut Teal 11.1%
- Wood Duck 10.3%
- Shelduck 3.5%
- Pink-eared Duck 0.8%
- Hardhead 0.4%
- TOTAL: 35,000 ducks (approximately)
