Syracuse.com - DEC's plan to eliminate wild mute swans by 2025 draws criticism, support

[HuntingNY-News]

"The biggest thing (about the opposition) is that people don't differentiate (between swans) and are unaware of how much damage wild mute swans can cause," said Mike Schummer, a professor of zoology at SUNY Oswego.

SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- Why would anyone want to kill a mute swan?

The birds in Hans Christian Andersen's book, "The Ugly Ducking" are mute swans. So are the beautiful, beloved inhabitants of the Manlius village pond.

But the state Department of Environmental Conservation says looks aren't everything and that this invasive species of bird causes havoc to the environment, negatively affecting native wildlife. The DEC recently issued a proposed 10-year-management plan calling for the elimination of wild populations of mute swans, while "allowing responsible ownership of these birds in captivity."

The plan -- which includes shooting the wild birds, destroying their eggs and sterilization -- has ruffled the feathers of many swan lovers.

"It's an issue because a lot of people have a personal connection with these birds. They've been in our community for a long time. The DEC looks like they've already made up their minds on this and the public is being left out of the decision-making process - and it's a cruel plan," said David Karopkin, director of GooseWatch NYC, which started an online petition against the DEC's plan.

The plan is available on the DEC website and comments are being accepted until Feb. 21.

The Onondaga Audubon board of directors will be discussing the DEC's plan at its board meeting Wednesday evening. Vice president Gerry Smith said, "I'm enthusiastically in support of the DEC's efforts to control, and even to eliminate this invasive species. In the last 25 years, they've established themselves and have become a serious pest in our part of the state, presenting a significant hazardous to our local ducks and other waterfowl."

Mute swans weigh more than 25 pounds, have white plumage, an orange bill, a black face mask and a graceful curving neck. Native to Eurasia, the birds were imported in the late 1800s to grace parks and estates and have established wild populations.

The DEC estimates the state's the population at 2,200, with three distinct populations on Long Island, the lower Hudson Valley and along Lake Ontario. The majority are concentrated in Long Island and Hudson Valley.

A trumpeter swan. DEC estimates there are about 50 trumpeter swans in this state, mostly in the Western New York area. Like mute swans, they don't migrate.AP 

But they're not the only swans in New York. Native tundra and trumpeter swans, which are smaller and fewer in number, are among the birds and other creatures the DEC is working to protect with this plan.

That list includes the black tern, an endangered bird that inhabits the marshes along Lake Ontario.

Tundra swans at the Rosamond Gifford Zoo at Burnet Park. DEC estimates several hundred migrate from up north and winter in the state each year. Mike Greenlar | [email protected] 

"The biggest thing (about the opposition) is that people don't differentiate (between swans) and are unaware of how much damage wild mute swans can cause," said Mike Schummer, a professor of zoology at SUNY Oswego and scientist for Long Point Waterfowl, a non-profit group focusing on waterfowl, conservation education and wetlands in the Great Lakes Region.

Wildlife biologists note mute swans don't migrate and are extremely territorial, tending to displace native bird species, at times killing their young. Studies have found they tend to take over wetlands areas, putting a substantial dent in aquatic vegetation. Adult mute swans eat on the average 40 percent of their body weight daily.

"Unlike most waterfowl, mutes completely uproot submerged vegetation, targeting the tubers and root mass, which in many cases doesn't come back," said Sarah Fleming, a wildlife biologist with Ducks Unlimited. "That reduces the habitat for fish and aquatic invertebrates, in addition to reducing the amount of food available for native migrating waterfowl."

Downstate, waste caused by mute swans has resulted in degraded water quality at parks, ponds, swimming areas - even creating problems in shellfish fishing areas off Long Island. Mutes can present hazards to aviation; swan/aircraft strikes have occurred at John F. Kennedy Airport, said Bryan Swift, the DEC's waterfowl specialist.

The Atlantic Flyway Council, which is made up of state wildlife agencies and biologists who work together to monitor and manage waterfowl populations in the Atlantic Flyway, adopted a plan in 2003 to reduce the mute swan population. New York's population was to be reduced to 500 by 2013 under that plan. Instead, it has grown slightly, because little action was taken.

"Back in the 1990s, there were 25 mute swans along Lake Ontario," said Swift. "By 2002 that number rose to 200. We've been doing some control work (shooting them, oiling the eggs) and have tried to keep a lid on them."

Maryland has an aggressive control plan that reduced the population of mute swans from nearly 4,000 in 1999 to 200 in 2010. Michigan's wildlife agency aims to reduce the state's mute swan population from about 15,500 to less than 2,000 by 2030. Connecticut and Rhode Island have programs that include nest and egg treatment or removal. Ohio is also working on a control plan.

A swan with cygnets at the Manlius swan pond. These swans would not be touched under the DEC's management plan. Dave Lassman |[email protected] 

The DEC's plan would allow the possession of swans under certain circumstances. The village of Manlius, for example, has a permit to keep swans. The management plan would continue the permitting process and prohibit the raising and selling of domestic mute swans, or releasing them into the wild.

GooseWatch NYC's online petition notes: "(The DEC's) plan to utterly eliminate this majestic creature from the face of its land reflects an agency that has lost touch with its core mission as well as with the greater voices to which it must ultimately answer.

Swift responded: "Our core mission is to maintain the native fish and wildlife species in ecological balance with the environment - not maintaining a species that has beauty or charisma - regardless of the impact."

Give your thoughts: Comments on the draft mute swan plan may be submitted in writing through February 21, 2014 to NYSDEC Bureau of Wildlife, Swan Management Plan, 625 Broadway, Albany, NY 12233-4754 or email [email protected] and write "swan plan" in the subject box.

View the full article on The Syracuse Outdoors Blog

[mike rossi]

The DECs 1992 Mute Swan Plan was a dismal failure thanks to the lobbying of the Humane Society and the organization this article mentions called goose watch. The population goal was 500 by 2013, however the current population estimate is 2200, which is actually an increase from 1993. Population modeling based on reproduction and survival data, estimates the population is growing about 13% a year and without human intervention mute swans will be eventually be common in all parts of NY state. The population goal for 2025 is zero mute swans in NY state and if the same organizations which have blocked dove hunting seasons for three decades succeed again as they did in 1993 the DEC will not be able to adopt an effective management plan this time around either. I posted information about this in the waterfowl forum, read up, gather some back ground info, and get your public comment in by the February deadline. Don't use a typical "sportsman's rant" - keep it relevant and don't delve into tax, etc... Until we learn to address controversial issues properly, whether it be mute swans, mourning doves, or waterfowl hunting on Long Island or Onagada Lake, we will continue to facilitate the people opposed.

Edited January 26, 2014 by mike rossi