Trumpeter swans are making a comeback in Wisconsin.
After the Department of Natural Resources launched recovery efforts, the number of trumpeter swans has risen from zero to nearly 4,700.
“It was a native bird to Wisconsin,” DNR wildlife biologist Marty Johnson tells Wisconsin’s Morning News. “There were other areas in North America where there were swans, but Wisconsin wanted to bring them back to the state. We had them back in the 1800s, and so the endangered species program made an effort to try to reestablish the population.”
Johnson says it’s important to restore a bird that was once highly populated in the Badger State.
“Swans provide balance and diversity in the natural resource,” he says. “Swans are not a game species in Wisconsin, but bringing them back is, again, providing that balance, that diversity that we’re all looking for in terms of trying to restore our native communities.”
For the full conversation with Johnson, click in the SoundCloud player above.
