A court has blocked the hunting of wigeon in Zuid-Holland province in a case brought by a conservation group.

The provincial government wanted to permit hunting of the Eurasian wigeon, a species of dabbling duck that migrates to the Netherlands in winter, arguing that it damages farmland.

Environmental organisation Vogelbescherming en Natuur en Milieufederatie Zuid-Holland (NMZH) raised a 10,000-signature petition and took legal action to stop the shooting going ahead.

The district court in The Hague said the province had failed to demonstrate the effect of hunting on the birds’ conservation status and imposed a temporary ban on hunting them. NMZH says the population has been falling for decades.