Only 110 Authority to Control Wildlife (ATCW) permits have been issued to control duck species, in both lethal and non-lethal manners, so far this year.
This is of the 2953 permits approved by the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP) this year, but many farmers believe this isn’t enough to deal with duck populations, which may be lesser-known, but were wreaking havoc on many Victorian properties.
Minister for Environment Lily D’Ambrosio said the DELWP had been processing permit to control kangaroo applications as quickly as possible, but did not state whether duck permits were also a priority.
“We know that drought and kangaroo numbers have placed immense pressure on producers and we have dedicated extra resources to speed up the application process,” Ms D’Ambrosio said.
So far this year, 1998 applications have been approved to control kangaroo populations, but there are concerns from farmers that permits have only granted permission to cull in small numbers.
READ MORE:
DELWP said landholders were able to apply for additional permits if required, and encouraged those that had recurring wildlife problems to submit applications early to account for the assessment and processing period.
DELWP was currently reviewing the ATCW system and recently undertook community consultation on ways to improve it, with the report to be released shortly.
The department could not provide information on how many applications had been submitted.
What do you think? Let us know in the comments below.