Identifying our Protected and Threatened Species

The former Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning’s Victorian Framework for Conserving Threatened Species states:

“The Victorian Flora & Fauna Guarantee Act (FFG) places importance on prevention to ensure that more species do not become threatened in the future. The Act emphasises the importance of cooperative approaches to biodiversity conservation and recognises that all government agencies and the community need to participate in the conservation effort. The Act’s objectives aim to conserve all of Victoria’s native plants and animals.”

If the government wishes to avoid more species becoming threatened, duck shooting must be banned in Victoria. CADS’ rescuers continue to recover illegally shot protected and threatened species, including threatened Freckled and Blue-billed Ducks. This is despite the fact that the Waterfowl Identification Test was introduced in 1990, in an attempt to prevent these birds from being illegally shot.

Shooters are only required to pass the WIT test once, and protected and threatened birds continue to be targeted every duck shooting season. Continue reading to learn more about these protected and threatened species.