justnorth posted on January 30, 2007 22:23 :: 1870 Views
Michigan Department of Natural Resources officials are seeking information related to the shooting of a trumpeter swan during the Christmas holiday season. The swan was shot and left for dead in Doe Lake, south of the Buckhorn Lodge, in the Hiawatha National Forest in Alger County in the Upper Peninsula.
Forensic study determined that the swan had been shot with a rifle or pistol. The remains of the bird were discovered by a kayaker paddling on Doe Lake just before New Year's Day.
Trumpeter swans are protected under both state and federal regulations. In the past two decades, Michigan DNR and federal authorities worked cooperatively to raise and release trumpeter swans, the native swan to the Great Lakes region, back into the wild.
Swans were targeted during the early 20th Century by market hunters who sold the bird's feathers to markets for decoration on hats and other clothing. Laws placed the trumpeter swan under protective status when their numbers declined. Since then, in part due to extensive reintroduction efforts, the number of swans has rebounded and today the birds are once again established in numerous locations around the state, including the Seney National Wildlife Refuge and areas within the Hiawatha National Forest.
Anyone with information on the poaching of this swan or any other illegal activity involving natural resources is encouraged to contact any office of the Michigan DNR, or the Report All Poaching Hotline at 1-800-292-7800. Information can be provided anonymously.
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