USFWS adds information on ‘swan’ poaching case in west-central Minnesota

Bloomington, Minn. — The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on Thursday provided additional details on a poaching case involving more than a dozen swans found dead in Stevens County in west-central Minnesota last month.

Today, Thursday, Jan. 25, the agency said the swans had been shot and included both trumpeter and tundra swan. Previously, the USFWS would not confirm the species of the birds; the shooting occurred between December 16 and 17, 2023.

On Tuesday the agency said 15 dead swans were discovered on private property in Stevens County. The property is near the intersection of 260th Street and 520th Ave, near the southwest corner of Lamprecht Waterfowl Production Area. Part of the Morris Wetland Management District, the USFWS-managed WPA lies a few miles southwest of the city of Morris.

The state has re-established trumpeter swans across a wide swath of Minnesota during the past 40 years. Residents and waterfowlers in western Minnesota reported seeing large numbers of trumpeters in the region this past fall.

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Migratory tundra swans rarely stop in western Minnesota during their migration south from the Arctic to the East Coast. The Mississippi River border region sees large numbers of tundra swans each autumn.

Both species are protected by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918.

The USFWS still requests that anyone with information about the poaching contact USFWS Special Agent Andrew Daiber at andrew_daiber@fws.gov.

“We are responsible for protecting America’s wildlife from poaching, illegal commercialization and other kinds of wildlife crime. …we also depend on tips from concerned citizens. People just like you step up and share information that helps us protect everything from native turtles and pallid sturgeon to bald eagles and white-tailed deer,” the agency said in a press release.

Citizens may be eligible for a monetary reward if information leads to an arrest or a conviction in the case.

The western border of Stevens County lies roughly 20 miles east of South Dakota. Its county seat is Morris.