DECLINE IN THE POPULATION
There was a time where mallards were plentiful, and by all means they still are. But at the end of the Victorian era, mallard was recognised as not only a tasty bird that was good fun for hunting, but also an ‘all-rounder’; it was convenient for the rich and the poor man. In the early ‘30s, before WWII, mallard hunting hit its height, with great annual festivals celebrating it. The species went down from the green to the amber list. But with the onset of the Second World War, people had more to worry about than shooting mallard – all the men (who usually shot) were at war, and all the women were doing all the domestic, necessary jobs.
After the war, people sort of forgot about mallards, and the population slowly recovered. Although mallard hunts still occur, there are none so great as to make a dent in the enormous population.