Washington Hunter
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Trumpeter swans' numbers rising
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
POCATELLO, Idaho -- The population of trumpeter swans appears to be staying strong, wildlife managers said.
Andrew Sorenson, a part-time biologist with Idaho Fish and Game, counted nearly 500 swans and signets during a recent flight over the animals' habitat in southeastern Idaho.
That's a huge improvement over just a few years ago, said Laurie Hanauska-Brown, a wildlife biologist with Fish and Game based in Idaho Falls.
"Four years ago, you were lucky to see 20 birds down there in the winter," she told the Idaho State Journal.
The trumpeter swan population plummeted in the early nineteenth century, when the birds were hunted to near extinction, she said. Early restoration efforts beginning in the 1950s helped somewhat, but the animals didn't make it back to Idaho in large numbers until after 2001, when Idaho Fish and Game officials trapped 95 swans and brought them to southeastern Idaho. Over the next three years, they brought in another 280 birds.
Hanauska-Brown said they did not relocate any birds this year, and while the population may not be growing, she said it is stable.
"At this point we just want to see what happens and what the population does," she said. "Last year we had collared birds that brought their signets down. That means they went to Canada or the Yukon or wherever and had their signets and brought them back."
Sorenson counts the swans from a low-flying Cessna 192 piloted by Southeast Idaho Regional Wildlife Manager Carl Anderson. The plane allows the biologists to get a more efficient count, Anderson said.
"There are just an awful lot of places you can't get to," he said.
During a flight last week, Sorenson and Anderson spotted the birds on both the north and south ends of Bear Lake, in the Oneida Narrows, near Grace and just outside of Soda Springs. That's good news, said Hanauska-Brown, because it means the birds will likely come back to those areas in future years.
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
POCATELLO, Idaho -- The population of trumpeter swans appears to be staying strong, wildlife managers said.
Andrew Sorenson, a part-time biologist with Idaho Fish and Game, counted nearly 500 swans and signets during a recent flight over the animals' habitat in southeastern Idaho.
That's a huge improvement over just a few years ago, said Laurie Hanauska-Brown, a wildlife biologist with Fish and Game based in Idaho Falls.
"Four years ago, you were lucky to see 20 birds down there in the winter," she told the Idaho State Journal.
The trumpeter swan population plummeted in the early nineteenth century, when the birds were hunted to near extinction, she said. Early restoration efforts beginning in the 1950s helped somewhat, but the animals didn't make it back to Idaho in large numbers until after 2001, when Idaho Fish and Game officials trapped 95 swans and brought them to southeastern Idaho. Over the next three years, they brought in another 280 birds.
Hanauska-Brown said they did not relocate any birds this year, and while the population may not be growing, she said it is stable.
"At this point we just want to see what happens and what the population does," she said. "Last year we had collared birds that brought their signets down. That means they went to Canada or the Yukon or wherever and had their signets and brought them back."
Sorenson counts the swans from a low-flying Cessna 192 piloted by Southeast Idaho Regional Wildlife Manager Carl Anderson. The plane allows the biologists to get a more efficient count, Anderson said.
"There are just an awful lot of places you can't get to," he said.
During a flight last week, Sorenson and Anderson spotted the birds on both the north and south ends of Bear Lake, in the Oneida Narrows, near Grace and just outside of Soda Springs. That's good news, said Hanauska-Brown, because it means the birds will likely come back to those areas in future years.
