Conservation

Challenges to waterfowl conservation have evolved dramatically at the local, national and international level over the past 50 years.  Habitat loss, urban development, accumulations of biotoxins, and even global warming have significantly changed many landscapes, resulting in detrimental declines of waterfowl populations throughout the world.  Conservation action is an important component of the LRWC mission because it represents the heart of the original vision of S. Dillon Ripley and his commitment to the protection and conservation of rare, threatened and endangered waterfowl.  LRWC recognizes that successful conservation action requires a multi-dimensional focus that includes field research, education, communication, and habitat restoration.

LRWC actively aids in conservation efforts through:

             •Educational activities that promote conservation awareness.
             •Fundraising efforts to support national and international conservation efforts for species of concern.
             •Collaboration with national and international partners and active involvement in conservation actions for
               waterfowl species and wetland habitats.

Projects

Iowa Trumpeter Swan Restoration Project

The trumpeter swan (Cygnus buccinator) is the largest species of native waterfowl in North America.  Standing 4 feet tall with a wing span of over 7 feet, these impressive and beautiful birds were once fairly common throughout much of the North America.   By the early 1900s trumpeter swans had declined to the brink of extinction due to market hunting and the millinery trade.  The successful recovery of wild trumpeter swan populations to midwest North America is a conservation success story attributed to coordinated captive breeding and reintroduction programs overseen by the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service and managed through state wildlife agencies.  Successful reintroduction programs have occurred in Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota and Ohio.

LRWC is an active Conservation Partner with the Iowa Trumpeter Swan Restoration Project managed by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources.  In 2006, one pair of LRWC trumpeter swans was transferred to the Iowa Department of Natural Resources to serve as captive surrogate parents to cygnets being raised for release.  LRWC has continued to assist this restoration effort in subsequent years by providing additional trumpeter swan cygnets and adults.

Swan Goose Project

The swan goose (Anser cygnoides) is a large goose that breeds primarily in Mongolia and eastern Russia, and winters in southern and eastern China. Numbers of swan geese have declined significantly during the past century, primarily due to habitat loss from agricultural development, human disturbance and unsustainable levels of hunting.  This species was listed as Endangered in 2000.  Although numbers continue to decline, comprehensive surveys in the wintering range have detected a reduction in the rate of the decline in recent years, and as a result this species was downlisted to Vulnerable in 2008.

 

 

 

 

 

LRWC has partnered with Eurasia’s Swan Goose Task Force, the Moscow Zoo, and conservation authorities from Muraviovka Park, a vast 13,000-acre wetland located in the Amur River Basin of Russia, to develop a reintroduction program to re-establish a wild population of swan geese in the region.  Elements of the program will include the development of an education program geared towards local communities, the collection of baseline data on existing wild populations, and construction of a breeding facility in Muraviovka Park.  In 2008, LRWC donated an incubator to Muraviovka Park to aid in the captive breeding and restoration program.  LRWC also will provide guidance in the development of the breeding program at Muravivka Park, educate Park employees on waterfowl husbandry techniques, and facilitate funding efforts to help support the reintroduction program.

To create awareness of conservation needs for swan geese in the Amur region, LRWC provided funds to Muraviovka Park’s Education Program in 2006.  Funds were used to organize a “Swan Goose Education and Art Contest” in 21 school districts.  Media support was provided by the Department of Education of the Amur Region, the Russian Service on Nature Inspection, and the Amur Regional TV Company.  Over 450 children participated and submitted paintings, essays and poems on swan geese.  Artwork was exhibited at Muraviovka Parks’s Nature Center and in regional libraries of the Amur Region.

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