“Ducks are still commonly killed with lead shot in England despite a ban and voluntary moves by shooting groups, new research shows.
Lead is highly toxic to both humans and wildlife, and using it to kill ducks has been illegal in England since 1999.
In 2020, leading shooting organisations announced a plan to end the use of lead shot for hunting all live quarry.
In the new study, researchers from the University of Exeter and WWT, the charity for wetlands and wildlife, collected 176 mallards from 37 suppliers across England in 2021-22.
Of the 133 that contained recent shot, 69% had been shot illegally with lead.
The UK government is due to review legislation on lead ammunition in the coming months.
“Our findings suggest that neither legislation nor the voluntary switch has stopped the use of lead shot for killing ducks,” said Emily Strong, from the Environment and Sustainability Institute on Exeter’s Penryn Campus in Cornwall.
“As well as analysing ducks shot in 2021-22, we looked at five comparable surveys from 2001 to 2019, to see how things have changed over time and in different parts of England.
“In the North West and West Midlands, the likelihood of mallards containing lead shot decreased significantly over time, but no other regions showed significant changes.”
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“Ducks are still commonly killed with lead shot in England despite a ban and voluntary moves by shooting groups, new research shows.
Lead is highly toxic to both humans and wildlife, and using it to kill ducks has been illegal in England since 1999.
In 2020, leading shooting organisations announced a plan to end the use of lead shot for hunting all live quarry.
In the new study, researchers from the University of Exeter and WWT, the charity for wetlands and wildlife, collected 176 mallards from 37 suppliers across England in 2021-22.
Of the 133 that contained recent shot, 69% had been shot illegally with lead.
The UK government is due to review legislation on lead ammunition in the coming months.
“Our findings suggest that neither legislation nor the voluntary switch has stopped the use of lead shot for killing ducks,” said Emily Strong, from the Environment and Sustainability Institute on Exeter’s Penryn Campus in Cornwall.
“As well as analysing ducks shot in 2021-22, we looked at five comparable surveys from 2001 to 2019, to see how things have changed over time and in different parts of England.
“In the North West and West Midlands, the likelihood of mallards containing lead shot decreased significantly over time, but no other regions showed significant changes.”