ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) - Mute swans are protected from being killed by New York state’s conservation agency under a bill signed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
The Democratic governor signed legislation Monday night that sets a two-year moratorium on the Department of Environmental Conservation’s plan to destroy mute swans, which the agency contends are a non-native species. The agency estimates the state’s mute swan population at around 2,200, mostly concentrated around New York City.
The state’s 2013 plan to reduce the swan population by shooting or gassing them and destroying their eggs was met with a public outcry. The DEC revised its mute swan management plan in 2015 to focus on non-lethal ways to reduce their impact on wetlands and native waterfowl.
Cuomo’s office says the agency is already doing what’s outlined in the bill.
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