New York legislators and conservationists are mulling several proposals to ship out — or outright kill — wild mute swans that are attacking tourists and residents, wreaking havoc on vegetation and even threatening the safety of jets trying to fly.
Sky News Australia reported that the U.S. Agriculture Department has been curbing flock populations since 2009, when they flew into a U.S. Airways flight and forced it to land on the Hudson River.
Now, New Yorkers working at the state conservation department are seeing the logic and pushing for the elimination of the free-ranging swans by 2025, Sky News reported. They don’t much care whether the birds are sent to “responsible ownership” parties for care taking, or if they’re killed, the media outlet reported.
“Lethal control methods will include shooting of free-ranging swans and live capture and euthanasia in accordance with established guidelines for wildlife,” the department’s draft proposal read, Sky News reported.
The plan also calls for nests and eggs to be destroyed.
GooseWatchNYC opposes the plan.
“It’s just outrageous to try to exterminate an entire species that has been living in the state for more than 150 years, almost 200 years,” said the founder of the goose group, David Karopkin, in Agency France-Presse.
Sky News reported about 2,200 of the wild mute swans are currently settled in the state.
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
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