Authorities seek trumpeter swan shooter

A mature but flightless and legally protected trumpeter swan was shot to death Sunday morning on a fence-enclosed, ice-covered pond on the campus of Kirkwood Community College in south Cedar Rapids.

“This was a senseless and deliberate act of vandalism,” said Dick Heft, board chairman of Turn In Poachers of Iowa, which has offered a reward of up to $1,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible.

Heft said pertinent information should be referred to local law enforcement authorities and can be provided anonymously by calling the TIP hotline, 1-800-532-2020.

“I have no clue why someone shot that swan,” said Department of Natural Resources conservation officer Aric Sloterdyk, who is leading the investigation. Sloterdyk said the bird was shot multiple times with bullets larger than .22 caliber but smaller than a shotgun slug.

While it is illegal to shoot a trumpeter swan under any circumstances, most past shootings have involved claims that the swan had been mistaken for a goose or some other legal game. In this case, the swan was within city limits, no pertinent hunting season was open, and it was shot with a gun that cannot legally be used for waterfowl.

Kirkwood parks and natural resources students who routinely monitor the three trumpeter swans that live on the pond discovered the dead bird around 10 a.m. Sunday, according to Kirkwood instructor Jerry Reisinger.

Since 1994, Kirkwood parks and natural resources students have been caring for swans on or near the campus as participants in the DNR's successful trumpeter swan reintroduction program.

The dead bird was not part of a mated pair, but the two survivors are, Reisinger said. The pair have been raising cygnets that eventually join the state's wild swan population, he said.

All three swans had been injured at some point and cannot fly. The pond has an aerator that ensures enough open water for the swans to escape animal predators. The fence is constructed to keep the swans in but it would not keep people out, according to Reisinger.