Zoo Idaho starts restoration project to increase swan population

POCATELLO — Zoo Idaho has started a restoration project that will help increase the number of trumpeter swans living in the wild.

Zoo Idaho Superintendent Peter Pruett said the project initially started in 2018. They hoped to be able to start two years ago, but they had to push it back due to rising cases of avian influenza.

“It’s been a long, slow process,” he said.

Pruett said a group of trumpeter swans will come to the zoo in October where they will stay during the winter. They will then be relocated to Oregon the following June.

“The State of Oregon has two breeding pairs of trumpeter swans,” he said. “The goal is to get fifteen.”

Pruett said there are three different swan populations in North America. The one in Oregon has the smallest population out of the three of them.

“Working with Oregon is a fantastic opportunity to jumpstart their numbers,” he said.

Pruett said the zoo is working with various other zoos across the country to get these swans. He said they have swans coming from several places, including New York, Cleveland and St. Louis.

“We’re getting them from all over the place,” he said.

Pruett said the hope with the swans coming to Pocatello is that they will learn how to survive in the wild without human aid. He said they don’t want the swans to feel comfortable around humans.

“They’re really getting isolated from humans,” he said. “This increases their likelihood of survival in Oregon.”

Pruett said once the swans get to Oregon, the zoo will continue to work with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife to track their migration patterns.

“They’ll get a collar around their neck,” he said. “Depending on what state they’re from, they’ll have a different color. They can submit the data to each state and track the migration of the swan.”

Pruett said when the swans come to Pocatello, they will have to trim their flight feathers to prevent them from flying away. They will start molting by the end of May, and their feathers will grow back around the time they reach Oregon.

“They’ll be able to fly while we’re sending them to Oregon,” he said. “That’s halfway through the molt.”

Pruett said the zoo will get ten swans this October. They will continue to get more swans to send to Oregon over the next few years until the population gets large enough.

“We’ll keep doing it until we’re told they have enough,” he said.