Swan-less Lake

Get out your cellphone cameras because the next swan you see may be your last. The New York Department of Environmental Conservation has unveiled a plan to kill all Mute Swans in the state of New York by the year 2025. They would like to eliminate an entire species, which has been living here since the 1800’s. 

Those of us who have been working to protect wildlife have heard all of the familiar reasons before: they are aggressive toward people, they eat the vegetation, they are non-native, they might fly into a plane someday....These reasons are all wearing very thin with a public that is growing tired of seeing its wildlife residents slaughtered. 

There are roughly 2,000 Mute Swans in the entire state of New York. When you consider the vastness of our great state, a couple thousand seems miniscule.

And of course, there is the ethical argument. A taxpayer-funded agency is going to use our money to violently, cruelly, wipe out an entire species that has been living in our midst for a couple hundred years.  

I began this column in response to the rampant killing of Canada Geese. And then, in the summer of 2013, it was discovered that there were plans to kill 10,000 birds across the state of New York (every type of bird imaginable). And now, an entire species is in the crosshairs. 

There are numerous studies that link time spent in nature with improved health benefits. Yet it is becoming more and more difficult to experience the natural world without wondering if the next animal you stop to admire is on a hit list. 

A petition can be found at this link https://www.change.org/petitions/new-york-state-department-of-environmental-conservation-stop-new-yo...

Additionally, there is a disturbing plan to kill the deer at Teatown Nature Preserve. A petition for that can be found here https://www.change.org/petitions/kevin-carter-teatown-nature-preserve-stop-the-deer-slaughter