ROME — A Veneto councillor filed a complaint against Donald Trump Junior for allegedly shooting a protected species of duck in the Venetian lagoon.

 A six-minute video released by Field Ethos — a mixed-media site which bills itself as "the premier lifestyle publication for the unapologetic man" — shows Trump Jr., the journal's founder and publisher, and his entourage trawling the Venetian lagoon in a motorboat and full camouflage.

 Later in the video, the American president's firstborn son shoots a number of ducks from the sky as he pops in and out of a foxhole in the Pirimpiè valley, a nook of the lagoon southwest of Venice.  

 Trump Jr. then appears surrounded by dead quail and ducks. "This is actually a rather uncommon duck for the area," says Trump Jr., pointing to one rust-coloured carcass. "Not even sure what it is in English." 

 Andrea Zanoni, a Green Party Veneto councillor and animal rights enthusiast, said that the waterfowl in question was a tadorna ferruginea, or ruddy shelduck: a rust-orange, black-winged duck with a distinctive honking call. The European Union's Birds Directive classifies the ruddy sheldruck as an endangered species. It protects the duck even from legal hunting throughout Italy. 

 Zanoni said that he has lodged a formal complaint to Veneto president Luca Zaia. 

 "It is unacceptable that protected species are being killed in the Venice lagoon," said Monica Sambo, a Democratic Party councillor. "If Trump Jr.'s involvement is confirmed, we hope he will be prosecuted like any other citizen."

 Trump Jr.'s Italian detractors argued after the video gained traction that the American's ducking expedition was illegal start to finish. Only Veneto residents are eligible to hunt in the region, standard practice throughout Italy, a number of left-leaning politicians and environmentalists said. 

 But Veneto hunting and fishing councillor Cristiano Corazzo told media the day after the scandal broke that Trump Jr. had succesfully applied for a special dispensation allowing foreigners to hunt. 

 Carazzo said that the American and his buddies turned over identity cards, American hunting permits translated into Italian, proof of an Italian insurance policy for civil liability, 84EUR, and a European firearms pass. An American is eligible for a European firearms pass — typically issued only to EU residents — ihe is a member of an American hunting club with an EU sister club: New York City's Knickerbocker Club and Rome's Circolo della Caccia, for example. 

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