"Trumpeter swans are only found in North America." Explains Jimmy Pichner of the Minnesota Zoo.
As recently as the seventies and eighties there were almost no wild trumpeter swans left.
"They were hunted for their meat and hunted for their feathers."
The Minnesota zoo, the DNR and the fish and wildlife service teamed up to bring back the trumpeter... A project, decades in the making:
"Since '87 at that time there were practically no wild swans in Minnesota. The last pair was in Nicollet county at swan lake. The swans have actually done much better than i think any of us anticipated...Basically from zero to three thousand in that period of time."
The zoo and the fish and wildlife service are getting ready for another annual release... First they have to make sure the birds are ready, and tag them to keep track of their health and location:
"Two thirty one is what the scale is reading. We want to make sure that every bird we release is in top condition because they have to go out there and fend for themselves. Steve is going to put the fish and wildlife bans on and the win tag and they will be specific to this bird."
Luckily, in the case of the trumpeter swan their comeback has been strong:
"We've been able to get the swan population back up and I can be assured that my grandkids can see trumpeter swans in the wild and thirty years ago you couldn't say that. It's something that we're able to do at the zoo that really has an impact on the future of swans in the wild."
"And I kind of like them cause their feisty."
(Copyright 2009 by KARE. All Rights Reserved.)
