Will Maryland's Latest Attack Mean Mute Swans Will Be Gone Forever? We must intervene now.
The Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) insists on wiping out the Mute swans, The Baltimore Sun now reports.
In what many believe will be the final word in a long fight, Secretary of Natural Resources John Griffin on Monday (8 June 2009) accepted the report of a hunter-dominated task force on the swans, saying that his staff is “unfortunately compelled” to continue population control efforts on the fewer than 500 birds still living on the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries.
That means shooting adults or snapping their necks, and shaking eggs to kill the embryos.
The report claims mute swans “would be a constant and perpetual source of competition for scarce conservation resources,” but in fact mute swans compete with hunters who want to kill ducks and geese that eat the same underwater vegetation the swans do. To camouflage their hunting scheme, the task force, which includes bureaucrats and hunting groups such as Ducks Unlimited, assail mute swans erroneously as “feral” birds who are “an environmental hazard to the Chesapeake Bay ecosystem.”
Defenders of Wildlife and the Maryland Ornithological Society back the killing of mute swans. Some animal-protection groups support hazing the birds to wreck their eggs. Why?
Of the many hundreds of thousands of birds living at the Bay, the community of mute swans adds up to a mere 500. Just six years ago, there were approximately 4,000 but Maryland Department of Natural Resources is systematically killing them to eradicate them from Chesapeake Bay.
Mute swans are deemed “invasive” by the DNR — a loophole from federal Migratory Bird Treaty Act protections — but they are naturalized members of the biocommunity.
Friends of Animals president Priscilla Feral states, “They’ve found an ecological niche here. Let them be. The DNR’s assault on mute swans is deeply dishonest and deplorable.”
“We too have come onto the continent and proliferated. We should be disrupting the lives of free-living animals as little as possible, and addressing the main causes of the state of the Chesapeake Bay, the country’s largest estuary.”
The demise of aquatic vegetation is mainly caused by sewage treatment plants, runoffs from animal agribusinesses, construction and road-building. All of these factors degrade water quality, making the Bay water turbid and blocking sunlight that gives underwater vegetation the energy it needs to grow.
“NPR and other media outlets have said plenty about how the chicken-selling industry is damaging the Chesapeake,” observes Feral. “But Maryland officials fiddle, and target undomesticated birds.”
Ask the Office of Governor Martin O’Malley to intervene now to stop the killing off of Maryland’s Mute swans.
Telephone:
Colm O’Comartun
Director of Governor’s Office 410-974-3901 Email
Sue Casey
Senior Advisor to the Governor 410-974-5041 Email
Also contact the Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR): John R Griffin, Secretary; and Jonathan McKnight, Associate Director.
Call Jonathan McKnight at 410-260-8539 Email
Let them know killing Mute swans is no answer to the Bay’s problems. Tell them to stop the killing now.
Or call toll-free in Maryland at 1-877-620-8DNR (8367) (Weekdays 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m.)
Out of state: 410-260-8DNR (8367) (Weekdays 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m.)
By US Mail: Maryland Department of Natural Resources
580 Taylor Avenue
Tawes State Office Building
Annapolis, MD 21401
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12 Comments
On June 12, 2009, kathryn Burton wrote:
The mute just might be native, according to scientific papers
published late last year (go to SavetheMuteSwans.com)
The killing is still going on, even though someone from a
Humane organization had knowledge of the felonious way they were being killed. Priscilla, you can stop it, I believe,
since you do not have a conflict of interest. Please call me at ….
Kathryn
[Blog editor’s note: We removed the
phone number from this message and will reach
Kathryn soon.]
On June 12, 2009, Al Streit wrote:
Pigeon People agrees with Priscilla when she says about swans: “They’ve found an ecological niche here. Let them be. The DNR’s assault on mute swans is deeply dishonest and deplorable.”
Pigeon People is the only pigeon group in the world that fights for pigeons to be let alone. We are against population control programs.
Al
On June 12, 2009, Brandon Becker wrote:
“We too have come onto the continent and proliferated. We should be disrupting the lives of free-living animals as little as possible, and addressing the main causes of the state of the Chesapeake Bay, the country’s largest estuary.”
So true; I agree 100%.
On June 13, 2009, Maryanne Appel wrote:
The current plan to kill mute swans to satisfy the inane and selfish concerns of “shooters for sport” is abominable. Let’s hope enough pressure can be put on Maryland’s officials to stop this crime against the natural world.
On June 14, 2009, dave wrote:
i was wondering when this would be picked up, i was driving through delaware, near maryland and tuning in my radio and actually pick up a station playing a hunt, if you want to call it that, more like a slaughter. a bunch of hunters were sitting in chairs playing a loud audio sound of geese, im prety sure it was not swans, and as the flock came over the hill, they opened fire. i couldnt believe the put this on the radio live.then some bonehead came on and said they did this because there was not enough food for them to survive. i guess nobody told this intellect that these are birds, and if theres no food there they can fly someware else to eat. they said they do this once a year. now thats just sick, theres definitly something mentally wrong with these people. glad to see FOA is bringing this out to the public. this definitly needs to be stopped.you wonder what makes people do such stupid stuff and come up with such supid ideas to control wildlife. they really need to get a life.
On June 15, 2009, michele6933 wrote:
If it was cats instead of birds, the good folks would all be up in arms . Hunters and their allied murderers will always find an excuse to kill (lack of food for the animals, food for themselves, overpopulation, non-native species, land destruction, health hazard etc …)Mute swans have a place in the natural circle of life . In NY the slaughter of geese is also prepared around the airports, in many cities the poisoning of pigeons is an accepted seasonal occurence, in rural environs the killing of starlings, crows, sparrows is carried on with impunity . It is a horror and so difficult to combat . We educate, we petition,we contribute, we plead…. One victory may be followed by 2 defeats . Sometimes it is hard to remain in a fighting spirit .
On June 16, 2009, Lyana Muniz wrote:
It is horrible that they are killing these poor and beautiful mute swans. Maybe [we] can start a petition that we all can sign to help these defenseless animals…I am ready to sign!
[ Blog editors’ note: Two animal protection groups sat on a task force, opposed the killing of swans and then did nothing more. One even suggested oiling swan eggs.
Petitions will be ignored. Please generate lots of e-mail appeals and phone calls to the DNR. Swans are being shot and others have their necks broken, and that’s straight from the DNR’s John McKnight. Phone 410-260-8539. ]
On June 17, 2009, Bruce wrote:
About the killing of Geese in NY I hope you sue the SOB’s and I mean the Dept of Ag and the NY Govenor. This is absurd.
On July 2, 2009, Arlene Steinberg wrote:
My letter:
July 2, 2009
Colm O’Comartun
Director of Governor’s Office
Sue Casey
Senior Advisor to the Governor
Jonathan McKnight, Associate Director
Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR)
To All,
The continued systematic murder of Mute swans is the most outrageous affront to nature and intelligence ever concocted by the pro-hunting minions and carried out by their government flunkeys. Now the DNR wants to kill the remaining 500 swans. Just how much Kool-Aid were you all forced to drink to believe that the swan population was the cause of the Chesapeake’s problems and that the sewage treatment plants, runoffs from pig and chicken agribusinesses, construction and road-building - all of which which degrade water quality and block sunlight from underwater vegetation - had nothing to do with it? Would you like to talk about the phosphorus bomb that was exploded in the Bay in the 1920’s?
Despite the best efforts to keep this secret slaughter under the radar, the public has learned about it and we are NOT buying this nonsense. Moreover, there is now evidence that the swan is non-invasive (the invasive species claim was never proven in the first place). It is bad enough that thousands of these beautiful and natural inhabitants of the Bay were mercilessly and fraudulently exterminated by an agency that has much to answer for in terms of crimes against nature. I am calling on the governor of Maryland to show some spine and intelligence and stop the slaughter of these remaining swans.
It is my belief that future ecologists will look back at Maryland’s insane jihad against the Mute swan as one of the most heinous affronts ever perpetrated on nature, just as Naziism and the slaughter of millions of innocent Jews and other ethnic groups will always be a black mark against Germany. And just as Hitler and everyone who had a hand in that extermination will forever be villified, so too will everyone who had a hand in this swan extermination be reviled as well.
My family and friends pledge that we will never visit Maryland or the Chesapeake Bay again - we will never support, through business or tourism, the people who so heartlessly and callously put to death one of the world’s most magnificent creatures while ignoring the REAL problems. Shame on every one of you who stood by and did nothing while this travesty was carried out.
Arlene Steinberg & Family
Philadelphia, PA
On July 14, 2009, Joe Man wrote:
KILL ‘em. Seriously folks, they are an invasive nuisance. Maybe you nice people might want to consider rescuing them and building them a little sanctuary—with fencing encasing it.
FoA comments:
Kill them? Are you talking about the invasive nuisance humans? Isn’t that harsh? They would look cute in a little sanctuary. You should be the first to go.
On July 19, 2009, Sharon F. Kissane, Ph.D. wrote:
I’m so tired of Ducks Unlimited. The group parades as a conservations group- the only conservation they observe is to conserve enough ducks to fill their already extended stomachs. I’m disgusted with my area of Barrington for heading such a hypocritical and self-serving group. Their tax status should be withdrawn.
On November 18, 2009, Lucinda wrote:
Arlene Steinberg’s comments above are on the mark. There is presently a petition online, asking for an investigation of a recent killing in Salem County New Jersey of 55 mute swans- this year. October 16, 2009. After reading much of the “committee reports” that led to policy, I am wondering how the somewhat cautious suggestions of these committees turned out to be an annihilation program. Who’s at the bottom of this…really. Someone who took the system, manipulated information given to the public and worked it for their own agenda (and coerced organizations to follow suit or lose money.) It is time that the public raised questions about being excluded from this decision-making process. It is time to redefine “public trust” to include the protection of that which is strong and beautiful, the mute swan. Please sign the petition. It won’t hurt and maybe will help. www.muteswanadvocacy.com