Zoo Idaho partners with Oregon Restoration Project to improve trumpeter swan population
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The following is a news release and photos from the city of Pocatello.
Zoo Idaho has partnered with the Trumpeter Swan Society, Oregon Dept. of Fish and Wildlife, and multiple zoos from the Association of Zoos & Aquariums from across the US on the Oregon Restoration Project. The goal is to help improve trumpeter swan populations in Oregon. Zoo Idaho housed 19 Trumpeter Swans in the wetland area over the past winter before relocating them to the Summer Lake Wildlife Area, Oregon.
On the morning of June 28, the 19 swans at Zoo Idaho with an additional six swans from the Wyoming Wetland Society were transported to Summer Lake Wildlife Area where they were processed, collared, and released Saturday, June 29.
The Oregon Restoration Project is ongoing. Zoo Idaho will receive 20 new swans starting at the end of October 2024 that will stay until the end of June 2025, when they will be released at the Summer Lake Wildlife Area. The goal of the project is to create a self-sustaining flock saturating the area of Summer Lake, with the hope that the swans will expand to other wetlands across eastern Oregon.
“We are so proud to be part of this program,” said Peter Pruett, Zoo Manager. “Zoo Idaho is now forever linked to the efforts of creating a sustainable Trumpeter Swan population for the state of Oregon. This is a great accomplishment.”
Zoo Idaho currently has one of the largest wetland facilities found in the United States. The facility can house up to 20 baby swans, also known as cygnets, as a soft site.