Trump case raised with Italy's environment minister.

Donald Trump Junior, the eldest son of the US president, has been accused of hunting illegally in Italy and allegedly shooting a rare species of duck in a protected area.

The case, which centres on a video showing Trump Junior shooting ducks during a hunting trip in the Venice lagoon, is set to be brought before the Italian parliament.

The Europa Verde (Green Europe) party has filed a report about the case with the Veneto regional council while the Greens and Left Alliance (AVS) has sought the direct intervention of Italy's environment minister Pichetto Fratin.

"In one frame Trump appears while describing the ducks shot, including a Ruddy Shelduck, very rare in all of Europe", said Veneto regional councillor and Europa Verde politician Andrea Zanoni, who recalled that in Italy hunting is prohibited for non-residents.

Zanoni, who said he is ready to file a complaint with the judiciary, stated that Donald Trump Junior went on the hunting trip with friends last December while on vacation in Italy with his new partner.

A video published in recent days on the American website 'Field Ethos - The global hunt for adventure', shows Trump Junior surrounded by freshly killed ducks, complete with an interview.

Zanoni said the hunting scenes in the Venice lagoon appeared to have been filmed in Valle Pirimpiè in Campagna Lupia, "an area that is protected by European regulations and is part of a site of the EU Natura 2000 Network, as a Special Area of Conservation".

The video shows Trump describing the ducks shot, Zanoni said, "among which a Ruddy Shelduck can be seen in the foreground, a very rare duck in all of Europe", which is protected throughout Europe by the EU Birds Directive as well as by Italian law.

In the video, Trump even points out the dead Ruddy Shelduck, saying that he wasn't sure of its name in English but identified it as "a rather uncommon duck for the area".

"Like any foreigner, in Italy by law he could not have hunted" - Corriere della Sera newspaper quotes Zanoni as saying - "In fact, in our country only residents of one of the Italian regions can hunt. You need a hunting licence issued by the Questura [police headquarters], but above all you need a hunting licence issued only and exclusively to residents of one of the Italian regions, a mandatory document where you can note the date, place of hunting and quantity of animals killed divided by individual species."

AVS deputy Luana Zanella has called on environment minister Fratin to explain what happened, "given that the killing of protected species is a crime, and also whether it is true that Donald Trump Junior, son of the President of the United States, was among those participants".

The Venice branch of the centre-left Partito Democratico (PD) has also called for answers.

"What has been reported is a very serious fact, it is unacceptable that protected species are killed in the Venice lagoon, a protected environment that should be safeguarded" - said PD city councillor Monica Sambo - "If Trump Junior's involvement is confirmed, we hope that he will be prosecuted like any other citizen".