They’re trying to remove all Mute swans in the United States to free up their habitat to bring in the larger Trumpeter swan for trophy water fowl hunting.
Take Action: Call the Greenwood Lake Commission at 973-962-2241 or email [email protected] and tell them to regulate the actions of the humans using the lake recreationally, and not the swans whose basic living interests are impeded on.
Swans simply defending their right to live are at risk of being
killed by the USDA. The family of swans live on a 9-mile lake in the
New York and New Jersey area, but the humans who use the lake
recreationally are reluctant to coexist. The swans, who react
defensively towards jet skiers, have been deemed aggressive and are
therefore are at risk of getting killed by the government.
Local residents Michele Shenker and Joyce Dannheim have watched as
jet skiers harass the swans, leading the swans to act out in defense
of their young. Shenker recounts watching the jet skiers separate
the parents from the babies. Shenker fears the next actions that
will be taken by the authorities.
“The Greenwood lake then called in the USDA to assess the swans.
We’ve been told that ‘assess’ often means ‘kill.’”
The swans are defending their family–out of fear. Lisa Levinson, who
has become involved in this issue as a result of her work with In
Defense of Animals, considers the misguided reaction to blame the
swans as opposed to the human instigators.
“When the jet skiers go by, they’re supposed to slow down, and
they’re also not supposed to go too close to the swans.”
Humanity’s lack of willingness to understand animals, and instead
deem them to be inconvenient, puts them at risk of death by the
hands of the government.
Shenker can’t help but ask why anyone would live near a lake if they
weren’t open to coexisting with the animals who live there:
“How can you want to be in nature and want to be in wildlife and
want to kill nature and want to kill wildlife?”
Part of a larger scheme
Swan expert Sheila Bolin revealed something even more sinister
happening across the country. “They’re trying to remove all Mute
swans in the United States to free up their habitat to bring in the
larger Trumpeter swan for trophy water fowl hunting” she explains.
“We’ve been fighting this issue since around the 1980s.”
As is usually the case in instances of animal exploitation, the main
driver is profit. When animals are deemed a “nuisance,” simply for
living their lives in suburban areas, the federal government is able
to step in and profit off of the removal of these animals. If the
government sees an opportunity for profit, the narrative can be
written in favor of destroying these beings who deserve to live
there. Bolin considers how swans are often criticized as invasive
for existing in suburban areas, and for eating too much vegetation.
This provides government justification to then kill the swans, and
replace them with a different kind of swan for more profit:
“Both state and federal wildlife services have tried to put the
Trumpeter swans in places where they have never before existed so
that they can be used for trophy waterfowl hunting.”
The Human cost
Although the swans deserve protection as a result of their inherent
worth as living beings, the human cost of failing to care for them
must also be considered. Bolin explains that there is a literal,
monetary expense to taxpayers when the USDA gets involved.
“The people do not realize that this program has been going on since
the 1980s and its run taxpayers millions of dollars. It’s in the
billions on a yearly basis.”
But beyond the physical cost, the environmental cost must also be
considered in relation to its impact on humankind. Bolin goes on to
explain that the swans are essential to the eco-system for humans,
too.
“Mute swans are a sentinel species meaning they alert scientists to
heavy metals in the lake or in the environment such as led, copper,
and mercury. They also alert to harmful microorganisms. So, when you
kill the sentinel species, once something goes bad in that lake or
in that environment, you have no sentinel sitting there something’s
going on. You have no alert system. That’s going to doom not only
the habitat but also the people around ”
In the midst of both a pandemic and the 6th mass extinction,
humanity’s relationship to the natural world requires sincere
reflection and reform.
“There’s just one swan family on this 9-mile lake. Why kill the
family?” Lisa Levinson ponders.
Take Action
Call the Greenwood Lake Commission at 973-962-2241 or email
[email protected] and tell them to regulate the actions of the humans
using the lake recreationally, and not the swans whose basic living
interests are impeded on.
NOTE from All-Creatures.org: Please watch this short, sweet video about Mute Swan (Cygnus Olor)