Second helicopter survey provides new data on Victoria’s game duck populations

The preliminary results of the aerial survey of Victorian game duck populations show an estimated population of 2,938,500 game ducks in Victoria.

The preliminary results of the aerial survey of Victorian game duck populations show an estimated population of 2,938,500 game ducks in Victoria.

The surveys were conducted from 19 October to 7 November by experienced wildlife biologists, who recorded the presence and number of game ducks at randomly selected waterbodies throughout regional Victoria.

The aerial survey is part of a monitoring program to estimate the total abundance of game ducks in the state, to help ensure duck hunting remains sustainable and improve our broader understanding of waterfowl ecology.

The monitoring program was further refined from last year by increasing the number of sites sampled, undertook ground counts where it wasn’t possible to use helicopters and included additional waterbodies, such as irrigation channels, sewerage ponds, creeks and rivers.

The results will be used to inform adaptive harvest management (AHM) to set sustainable duck season arrangements in the future.

This is the largest and most comprehensive survey of game ducks undertaken in Victoria.

Read the preliminary results report at: https://bit.ly/3qcYc8R