Geelong hunters have been left “ropeable” by the state government’s decision to close Lake Connewarre to duck shooters 11 days earlier than planned.
Lake Connewarre, Reedy Lake and Hospital Swamp will be off limits to duck hunters from Friday May 19 for the release of the orange bellied parrots. The shooting season was initially scheduled to end on May 30.
Geelong Field and Game conservation officer Trent Leen said that closing Lake Conneware during the duck shooting season was a “complete overreach of power”.
“The pest mitigation works that we do has a much greater impact on ensuring the survival of the orange bellied parrots than anything else would,” he said.
“The parrots already had a successful release last year when we had a full legislative duck season, so there’s no reason to delay it and there’s no reason to do anything.”
Mr Leen said the orange bellied parrot’s release could have gone ahead without restricting the shooting season as in previous years, and that hunters helped protect the parrots from pests.
“We can not only hunt game in the state game reserves during the season, but we can also hunt pests like rabbits and foxes,” he said.
“They’re (government) actually hindering the removal of some of those pest animals so it’s certainly not a logical decision.”
Mr Leen said Greater Geelong residents were the “losers out of all of this” and that hunters generated close to $7 million and 119 full-time jobs for the area.
“Now with the restricted season at the start and the end, all those dollars are just going to go elsewhere now,” he said.
Geelong Duck Rescue chair and wildlife rescuer Natalie Kopas said the early end to the season was “great news” and that rescuers would “still be out there” patrolling the wetlands.
“We wish it would have happened earlier because the parrots have been around there for a little while, but still better late than never,” she said.
“We’ll still have teams checking those wetlands to ensure that nobody there claims they didn’t know about the closures.
“I hope this is the very last time duck shooting happens in Geelong and the rest of the state.”
