Sitting DUCK?

I am concerned at David Tomlinson stating that mandarin ducks (above) are shot every year either by mistake or because people are unaware of their protected status (Sporting Answers, 7 June). Does Mr Tomlinson have the evidence to support this?

Clearly such words coming from a highly regarded writer and ornithologist, appearing in a respected shooting magazine, will only serve to play into the hands of the Chris Packhams of this world, who will use any means to attack what he (Packham) refers to as the “nasty brigade”.

There are many people gunning for the shooting community, without shooting ourselves in the foot (pardon the puns) with such statements. m. thomas-palmer, Pembrokeshire

David Tomlinson replies: Peak counts of mandarins in Sussex have halved in the past two decades: a friend who has shot and picked-up in the county for the past 30 years tells me that he has never heard a shoot captain brief Guns about shooting mandarins, though he has seen them shot on many occasions.

Few game shooters are aware of the duck’s protected status. Pretending that bad practices don’t occur in the shooting field is unwise, and it is up to those of us who shoot to make sure that they don’t happen.