How NOT to work with the community on threatened species conservationDuck hunting has never been identified as a threatening process for critically endangered Orange-bellied Parrots. The main threats to this species are from habitat loss (e.g., coastal development and climate change). The recovery plan includes a captive breeding program (DELWP 2016). In Victoria and Tasmania, juveniles are raised and released to join the over-wintering population in Victoria and South Australia feeding and roosting in coastal saltmarsh and chenopod scrublands.  Figure 1. The Orange-bellied parrot, Neophema chrysogaster (photo courtesy of Victorian State Government) The Connewarre State Game Reserve (CSGR) covers 3193 Ha between Geelong and the mouth of the Barwon River at Barwon Heads in Victoria. CSGR includes several distinct areas, Reedy Lake (550 Ha), Hospital Swamps (345 Ha) and Lake Connewarre (including Salt swamp, Orange-bellied Parrot reserve, Murtnaghurt Lagoon and the lower estuary) (2298 Ha) (Figure 2). On the 19th May 2023 the entire CSGR was closed to duck hunting to “ensure the safe release of captive-bred critically endangered orange-bellied parrots in the area”. The hunting season had already been shortened with a later start and was scheduled to finish several weeks earlier than normal on the 30th May. On the day the decision was announced (16th May), I wrote to the Minister for the Environment, Hon Ingrid Stitt urging her to review the decision, and delay the release of the Orange Bellied Parrots until after the season had closed. Five weeks later, I received a reply containing little more information than was in the original official media release and stating, “Hunting activity close to a known Orange-bellied parrot location has the potential to interrupt important feeding and flocking activities”, and “The release of the captive birds is timed to coincide with returning migratory birds and seasonal food availability”.  Figure 2. Image of Connewarre State Game Reserve showing Reedy Lake and Hospital Swamp west of Tait Point (red line) and Lake Connewarre east of Tait Point (Google Earth, June 2023). Vegetation classes useful for Orange-bellied Parrots (for feeding, roosting and cover), include Chenopod shrublands & saltmarsh (Loyn, Lane, Chandler, & Carr, 1986). These vegetation types do grow in small areas around the extreme margins of Reedy Lake above the normal high-water mark (Figure 3.) Reedy Lake is the largest freshwater lake in central Victoria and is predominantly reed beds, open water and aquatic vegetation with only 9-50 Ha (2-10%) of this saltmarsh herb fields (Billows & Gwyther, 2007; Ecological Associates, 2014)(See Figure 3). Data is sparser on Hospital Swamp, but it would be similar (let’s say 35 Ha, 10%). Whereas Lake Connewarre is predominantly saltmarsh and Chenopod scrub (i.e., Orange-bellied Parrot habitat) as well as open water. Conservatively, 40% of land around Lake Connewarre (east of Tait Point, Figure 2) within the CSGR is composed of Orange-bellied Parrot feeding and roosting habitat (915 Ha).  Figure 3. Vegetation mapping of Reedy Lake 2012 (above) and 2013 (below) from Ecological Associates (2014). Vegetation type “4.1 Sarcocornia quinqueflora Herbfield” may include Orange-bellied Parrot feeding habitat (Beaded Glasswort). Duck hunting is normally permitted, within the designated season, everywhere on the CSGR except a section of the southern end of Lake Connewarre and the upper estuary known as the Orange-bellied Parrot reserve. However, virtually all the duck hunting occurs only on Reedy Lake and Hospital Swamp, west of Stacy’s Road (Tait Point). I have personally never heard of anybody hunting ducks east of Tait Point, although it is legal to do so. This separate-distribution of Orange-bellied Parrot habitat and preferred duck hunting areas means that the chances of Orange-bellied Parrots being close enough to duck hunters at Reedy Lake or Hospital Swamp for disturbance to occur is minimal as they are most likely to be in the high concentrations of Orange-bellied Parrot habitat in Lake Connewarre (Salt swamp, Murtnaghurt Lagoon, Orange-bellied Parrot reserve and the estuary) east of Tait Point. If released birds do stray into the Reedy Lake or Hospital Swamps habitats, they are surely less likely to find and flock with returning migrant, Orange-bellied Parrots than if they are in the larger areas of Orange-bellied Parrot habitat in Lake Connewarre. Hence paradoxically, moderate disturbance to any released birds west of Tait Point may even make them more likely to rendezvous with wild migrants by moving them off to undisturbed habitats east of Tait Point. The decision in May 2023 to curtail duck hunting on the entire Connewarre SGR was bizarre and unwarranted. A search of the published literature finds nothing to back up the assertion that OBP are particularly susceptible to disturbance. “Hunting” doesn’t get a mention in the National Recovery Plan for the Orange-bellied Parrot although “truck noise” and aircraft and helicopter noise have apparently been investigated (unpublished reports not sighted by author) as threatening processes (DELWP, 2016). [LATE EDIT: In the report “Assessing waterbird susceptibility to disturbance by duck hunters in Victoria”, the author subjectively evaluates the potential susceptibility to disturbance of 39 species as a susceptibility score. They give Orange-bellied Parrot one of the lowest scores (tied at 37th with a score of 0.5), but then go on to elevate the species to the top three because of its Critically Endangered conservation status (Menkhorst, 2019). In other words, based on the perceived risk.] The closure was premature even on conservation-grounds, as published research shows that Orange-bellied Parrot migrants continue to increase in abundance within the Port Phillip Ramsar site remnant overwintering population (Figure 4) up to early August and remain until September (Loyn et al., 1986). Birds released following the scheduled close of duck season 2023 would have had 16 weeks to rendezvous with returning wild migrants, (following a normal full-season year they still would have had 13 weeks).  Figure 4. The season and duration of the period when Orange-bellied Parrot (OBP) are in Victoria from counts observed in the Point Wilson area from Loyn et al 1986 “Ecology of orange-bellied parrots, Neophema chrysogaster at their main remnant wintering site.” The early closure of CSGR alienated 100s, if-not 1000s, of local and regional residents who are duck hunter, wrongly labelling them as a threat to Orange-bellied Parrot conservation. Curtailing duck hunting on the entire Connewarre SGR to avoid “disturbance” or “interrupting important feeding and flocking activities” was unnecessary when almost all the Orange-bellied Parrot habitat is in parts of the SGR not frequented by duck hunters. Better solutions would have included:
References Cited Billows, C., & Gwyther, J. (2007). Ecological study of Lake Connewarre Wetlands Complex. Deakin University. DELWP. (2016). National Recovery Plan for the Orange-bellied Parrot, Neophema chrysogaster. Prepared by the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning with support from the Orange-bellied Parrot National Recovery Team. Ecological Associates. (2014). Reedy Lake Vegetation Monitoring Final Report to Corangamite Catchment Management Authority. Loyn, R. H., Lane, B. A., Chandler, C., & Carr, G. W. (1986). Ecology of orange-bellied parrots neophema chrysogaster at their main remnant wintering site. Emu, 86(4), 195–206. https://doi.org/10.1071/MU9860195 Menkhorst, P. (2019). Assessing waterbird susceptibility to disturbance by duck hunters in Victoria. Arthur Rylah Institute Technical Report Series No. 305.
1 Comment
Christopher Collins
6/19/2023 03:29:16 pm
A totally unnecessary and ill-conceived release of a small captive bred population of a threatened native bird that had little to no measurable benefit. Leave a Reply. |