Sunday, June 04, 2006

Common Fate

I wrote a blog a little while back entitled "Persecuted Cormorant". Shortly after that I received an e-mail from Priscilla Park pointing out that the Great Cormorant was not alone. In fact there are 4 species of birds that have no protection in law in Tasmania. If you or anyone else, want to shoot them, providing you have the necessary firearms permit, you can legally kill them. The species are those shown here--Forest Raven (a near endemic--if that's not a contradiction in terms!), the Tasmanian Native Hen, which is endemic to Tasmania, the Great Cormorant and the Little Pied Cormorant. The Conservation Committee of Birds Tasmania has sought protection for these species, and regularly reminds the relevant authority of this. But decisions appear to get lost in that void, that we all know so well! The changes would almost certainly only mean that if you have an issue with these species, you would have to get a permit before shooting them. That doesn't seem too hard to me, and is the way that other species are controlled--on the merits of the case.

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