Lame duck protest to mark start of hunting season

 A wheelchair-bound "lame duck'' will be among protesters outside the Department of Conservation (DOC) in Christchurch today aiming to highlight the suffering of animals injured during duck-shooting season.

Save Animals from Exploitation (Safe) New Zealand campaign director Hans Kriek said 275,000 ducks, geese and swans would be left to die slowly and painfully during the season, which ran for three months from tomorrow.

The protesters wanted Conservation Minister Steve Chadwick to instigate immediate research into the issue.

Kriek said international research indicated duck shooters caused unacceptable levels of suffering.

The research showed 20 to 45 percent of waterfowl shot by shooters were wounded and not retrieved.
Evidence obtained under the Official Information Act showed neither DOC nor Fish & Game New Zealand held any information, suggesting wounding rates of New Zealand game birds would be no different.

Three Australian states had banned duck shooting on cruelty grounds, Kriek said.

"The results of independent research in New Zealand could well spell the end to recreational duck shooting in this country,'' he said.

Safe would launch the campaign outside the DOC office in Christchurch at 12.30pm today.

In its advice to hunters, the Mountain Safety Council says they must aim for the kill zone of the animal.

All wounded animals should be tracked so they can be killed humanely as quickly as possible.

- NZPA