Seeking to Save Trumpeter Swans, Idaho Will Shoo Them Away

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho —  State biologists will use snowmobiles and ultralight aircraft to haze rare trumpeter swans that will probably starve if they try to winter at Harriman State Park.

But even with those hazing measures in place, some swans are bound to die.

“Everything is set up for a worst-case scenario,” said Ruth Shea, executive director of the Trumpeter Swan Society. “It’s pretty hard to see how it isn’t going to happen.”

In the coming weeks, more than 1,000 swans are expected to migrate from Canada and descend on Harriman, where in past years they have fed on the abundant aquatic plants of the Henry’s Fork of the Snake River and Silver and Golden lakes.

But with the drought this year, biologists believe there is only enough food for 300 or fewer swans.

In coming days, field biologists hope to trap young swans and haze older ones to find a more productive wintering ground.

The project will cost more than $50,000.

For more than a decade, the trumpeter swan population has increased across Canada and the United States. The population is nearing 20,000 birds, scientists said.