Duckshooting: Senseless Suffering, or Family Fun?

 

Summer Jayne is an author and animal-advocate based in Taranaki, New Zealand. She is the mother to two teenagers, a five year old, and ‘a house full of animals’.

 

 

 

 

Next weekend, gunfire will ring out over otherwise tranquil locations all around Aotearoa. The target of the relentless rain of bullets: thousands of gentle and innocent ducks, resting unsuspectingly in the wetlands, rivers, lakes, and ponds that they consider their homes.

The first weekend of May is the opening of duck shooting season, an outdated Kiwi tradition, continuing over a number of weeks, where violently killing ducks is regarded as a recreational activity. The animal welfare issues are extensive, but there are also environmental and social implications to consider. Animal advocate Sandra Kyle is one of many calling for an outright ban.

“Duck shooting is unconscionable,” states Kyle. “Fortunately, more and more New Zealanders are concerned about the suffering and injury caused to ducks and other waterbirds during duck shooting season.  I am hopeful that this horrible tradition will soon be winging its way into obscurity.”

In 2015, the Animal Welfare Amendment Bill passed into law in Aotearoa declaring that animals, like humans, are sentient beings. That means they are legally recognised as conscious, and capable of experiencing pain, fear, and distress. In addition to having sentience, ducks are intelligent and social beings, who sometimes partner for life.

Forcing them to experience the horror of being shot, retrieved in the jaws of a dog, and then swung around by the head until their neck dislocates, all in the name of tradition, is morally abhorrent. But the extent of the cruelty goes ever further. Each season, countless birds experience non-lethal wounding when they are shot, but do not die outright.

Wounded birds suffer agonising and prolonged deaths. Often unable to fly or swim, many will drown or starve. Former hunter Paora Mepham has witnessed the suffering of wounded ducks firsthand and chooses to take photographs instead of lives these days.

“Every trip there was prolonged suffering by ducks. Wounded birds, unable to fly, would invariably escape into the surrounding undergrowth and suffer slow deaths. Getting together with mates in the great outdoors is great fun. Killing animals while doing it; not so much,” Mepham states.

While bird protection is proudly encouraged in Aotearoa, ironically, duck shooting is not widely regarded as a threat to bird life. In reality though, it disrupts whole ecosystems, damages wetlands, and harms the native and endemic birds that live in these precious and unique ecological areas.   Fragile populations of endangered whio (blue duck) and pāteke (brown teal) face unnecessary disruption and death during duck hunting season. When they’re in flight, pāteke is visibly similar to a common mallard and they’re regularly killed by mistake.

Areas where duck hunting takes place become littered with the wads of shotgun cartridges, adding to plastic pollution and degrading waterways. The constant gunfire and the traipsing of hunters to their maimai disturbs wildlife in other predictable ways; a violent and unnecessary intrusion that turns wetlands into killing zones.

The Fish and Game regulations allow for the killing of ducks and other “game bird” species considered to be overpopulated, including mallards, black swans, pheasants and quails, as well as NZ native pūtakitaki (paradise shelduck) and pūkeko.

Killing species we don’t want around is the default position in New Zealand, but we should not consider killing a form of conservation when there are other non-violent solutions available that offer benefits that traditional methods often overlook,and can also be more economical.  Non-lethal methods for controlling duck numbers include habitat modification, exclusion and deterrents, birth control such as oiling eggs and contraceptive baits, and population control via humane capture and relocation.

Duck shooting is widely considered a tradition in New Zealand, framed as a family-friendly activity passed down through generations. However, in 2025, surely it is time to evolve beyond a cultural tradition based on harming and killing animals. It is well-documented in scientific research that exposure to violence negatively impacts children’s development. Involving children in any form of animal killing desensitizes them to violence and normalises the objectification of other beings. It is now well established that children who hurt animals are statistically much more likely to grow up and hurt other humans.

Duck shooting is also closely tied to binge-drinking culture, with consumption of alcohol a very common accompaniment to hunting. As well as being dangerous for other humans, this also contributes to shooters making errors resulting in non-lethal woundings of ducks.

In 2025, we ought to strive for a society where we no longer consider killing animals an acceptable form of recreation. Traditions and activities that are based upon the harm, exploitation, or deaths of other creatures should be banned. We can replace these outdated activities with kinder and more environmentally friendly pastimes, such as community engagement in wetland conservation,  and counting of local bird populations.

Three Australian states have already banned duck shooting and it’s time Aotearoa followed their lead. On opening weekend, animal advocates will be protesting in Christchurch and Whanganui. There is also an online petition to the government that people can sign to support a ban. Let’s choose new, non-violent traditions to instill compassion and kindness into society, and show mercy to animals who do not deserve to be killed for our leisure.