Have studies been completed on how best to deal with the mute swan?
The Swan Management Plan, released in April 2003, is a culmination of
multi-year study by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR)
of the impacts of the mute swan. The Plan provides direction and
objectives for the Department to manage this overabundant species
through 2008 including recommendations to reduce the current mute swan
population. The overwhelming scientific evidence indicates that
immediate, lethal action must be taken before mute swan populations
continue to proliferate and irreversibly damage the Chesapeake Bay. The
plan is available on line.

Do any other organizations support the Swan Management Plan?
The Plan has been supported and endorsed by local and national
environmental groups; including the National Audubon Society, the
Chesapeake Bay Foundation, the Severn River Association, the South River
Federation, the American Bird Conservancy, the Wildlife Management
Institute and numerous other organizations. These constituent groups
recognize the benefits this plan will have on other species and the
Chesapeake Bay as a whole.

Why do biologists believe it is necessary to kill mute swans?
Although non-lethal methods to control population growth will continue
to be used, lethal control is necessary to reduce the population. The
quickest–and most humane–way to effect a 67 percent reduction of the
population is to decrease adult survivorship by killing adult birds.
Because of the mute swan's high reproductive potential and long life
spans, traditional alternative control methods–such as addling eggs to
suppress recruitment of young–are not effective in reducing populations.
Non-lethal techniques such as harassment, exclusionary devices, and
behavioral modification generally have limited effectiveness and are
suitable only for site-specific situations involving problem individuals
or flocks.

Why can’t you just destroy the eggs or use birth control?
Wildlife Managers have been addling (preventing hatching of) mute swan
eggs and this has slowed the rate of population growth. This practice
will continue, however, egg addling alone will not lead to a significant
reduction in swan numbers.

Using birth control on adult swans requires a surgical procedure, and it
is simply impractical and too costly. Even if we used our entire budget
for no other purpose, we could not capture and sterilize all of the mute
swans.

Why can’t you capture the mute swan for re-locate them?
It is impractical to place the swans in zoos, parks, and retirement
homes and DNR does not have the resources to capture, pinion, sterilize
and find homes for hundreds, let alone thousands of these birds.

We cannot send them somewhere else either. Given the mute swan does not
have a natural predator, they are overpopulating and damaging every area
that they become established, in Europe as well as in North America. For
example, in the Great Lakes area, mute swans are devouring native wild
rice, destroying so much of this ethno botanically important plant that
the Ottawa Nation has initiated a mute swan control effort.

What will happen if we don’t do anything about the Mute Swan?
Mute swans have a tremendous reproductive capacity and no natural
predators. There were only 200 mute swans on the Chesapeake on the
1970’s. Without action, biologists believe that the current population
of 3600 birds could exceed 20,000 in ten years. If this should happen,
it may be impossible to restore SAV in the Chesapeake Bay. Native water
birds and waterfowl would suffer, and the many aquatic species that
depend upon the Bay’s wild grass beds to survive; crabs, seahorses,
rockfish, and many more; would lose their homes.

Aren't mute swans legally protected in the United States?
Yes. Mute swans have been officially recognized as Federally protected
in the U.S. since December 28, 2001. On that date, the U.S. Court of
Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit Court ruled that, as swans
and members of the waterbird family Anatidae, mute swans were protected
by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. The MBTA provides strong measures for
the protection and conservation of migratory birds, while at the same
time providing opportunities for people to use the migratory bird
resource for sport, recreation, and scientific endeavors. The MBTA also
provides considerable flexibility for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service–the primary Federal agency responsible for migratory bird
management–to implement actions to address situations in which birds may
come into conflict with human interests, as in the case of mute swans.
(http://migratorybirds.fws.gov/)

What management action is the Fish and Wildlife Service proposing for
mute swans?
The Fish and Wildlife Service's preferred alternative is to adopt an
integrated population management approach, which would authorize a suite
of lethal and non-lethal methods to address a variety of problems caused
by an increased abundance of mute swans. Lethal methods would include
shooting with firearms and/or live-trapping followed by euthanasia, plus
egg addling to reduce production of young. Non-lethal methods would
include pinioning and sterilization, harassment, exclusion, behavioral
modification, and capture and relocation. Most of these actions could be
conducted only upon receipt of a depredation permit issued by the Fish
and Wildlife Service. The goals will be to reduce existing populations
and prevent further range expansion. (http://migratorybirds.fws.gov/)
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