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DON’T BUY KIDS MALLARDS FOR EASTER
April 4, 2006
Contact: Tony Young (850) 488-7867
With Easter approaching, many parents consider
purchasing cute little mallard ducklings as gifts for their
children. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission
(FWC) suggests buying your child a stuffed animal instead.
“Although these ducklings might make nice pets
while they’re young, they can live 10 years and quickly outgrow
the cute and fuzzy stage, leaving full-size droppings on your
patio and outdoor furniture,” said FWC waterfowl biologist Diane
Eggeman. “When this happens, parents and children often grow
tired of caring for these pets and decide to turn them loose
into the wild.”
What they may not realize is this is illegal and
putting Florida’s native wildlife in jeopardy. No one may
possess, buy or sell mallards in Florida without special permit
from the FWC, and releasing them is prohibited.
These activities are against the law because
domesticated ducks, once released, are capable of transmitting
diseases, and they compete with native wildlife for food and
habitat. The more important reason is that releasing mallards
threatens the existence of the Florida mottled duck, a unique
subspecies found only in peninsular Florida.
“These domesticated mallards are crossbreeding
with the mottled duck, producing hybrid
offspring,” Eggeman said. “This is a serious concern and if not
stopped, this hybridization could result in the Florida mottled
duck becoming extinct.”
Pet mallards will not migrate when they are
released. They become established, year-round residents of our
state. When they mate with wild mottled ducks, it pushes
Florida’s mottled ducks closer to extinction.
The Florida mottled duck population is
relatively small, and already FWC biologists are saying as many
as 12 percent of these ducks are showing genetic evidence of
hybridization.
Today, the future of our mottled duck is
uncertain, but its fate is in Floridians’ hands. The solution
starts with not buying mallards for children’s Easter gifts.
For more information on protecting Florida’s
mottled ducks, contact one of the FWC’s waterfowl offices at
(850) 488-5878 or (321) 726-2862, or click
MyFWC.com/duck/mottled. |
