COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — Decades of intervention to bring back a waterfowl population that had been wiped out in the Buckeye State have come to a close according to Ohio Governor Mike DeWine and the Ohio Department of Natural Resources.
ODNR Director Mary Mertz announced on Friday that the trumpeter swan was voted off the state’s threatened species list by the Ohio Wildlife Council. A news release from DeWine's office stated that the "delisting culminates a 28-year effort by the ODNR Division of Wildlife to restore a population of trumpeter swans in Ohio."
“Ohio’s professional wildlife biologists dedicated themselves to growing the trumpeter swan population over nearly three decades, and their perseverance has paid off,” DeWine said. “In addition to monitoring the growth of the trumpeter swan population, a great deal of work also went into creating and restoring wetland habitat needed for generations of trumpeters to nest and thrive.”
Destruction of trumpeter swan populations began in the 1700s and 1800s in North America because of "unregulated harvest and wetland habitat loss." In Ohio, the birds were eradicated "as early as the 1700s."
Following a trend that started in other parts of the Midwest, ODNR began its trumpeter swan reintroduction program in 1996 with help from the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo and The Wilds of the Columbus Zoo. The zoos raised young trumpeters from eggs brought to the state via a game refuge in Alaska. The animals were then released into the wild.
Listed as an endangered species when they were first introduced, the swans were downgraded to threatened status in 2012.
“Trumpeter swans represent a great comeback story for Ohio. This is just one of many examples of the conservation work ODNR has been doing for the last 75 years,” said Director Mertz. “Through the hard work and dedication of our staff and conservation partners we can once again see trumpeter swans fly through Ohio’s skies.”
An official 2010 plan set the goal of "delisting trumpeter swans when the population reached 40 or more breeding pairs for three consecutive years" and included a prerequisite of having the birds breed in at least 15 counties.
In 2015 more than 40 breeding pairs were identified and this number has been confirmed annually. By 2023 biologists found 152 breeding pairs. Currently, the birds have been found nesting in 26 counties, with an estimated population of nearly 900 across the state.
The trumpeter swan reintroduction is considered a "monumental conservation success story in Ohio similar to bringing back bald eagle and osprey populations." In Ohio, the birds are still granted protection by federal and state wildlife laws and efforts to increase their numbers will continue.
