Why does The HSUS oppose destruction of mute swan populations?
The DNR’s lethal management plan arbitrarily targets a beautiful element of the Chesapeake Bay ecosystem, causing unjustifiable death and suffering. According to an eye witness, some swans are herded up, bagged and killed by hammer blows to the head and cervical dislocation. Moreover, the state has no data to support its claims that mute swans are having a significant negative effect on the overall quality or quantity of vegetation in the Bay with any data. Studies have shown that mute swans do, in fact, eat vegetation, but no study to date has linked vegetation loss in the Bay with localized mute swan activity. According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, “It is unlikely that swans (or any other grazers) represent a threat serious enough to decimate the submerged aquatic plants throughout the Bay.” The agency also states that mute swans are not “the primary cause, or even a major, reason for the decline in vegetation in the Chesapeake Bay or anywhere else.” Even Maryland DNR has s
