Iowa DNR looking for person who shot trumpeter swan

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources is seeking the public's help in finding the person who shot to death a trumpeter swan.

According to natural resources officials, the swan was shot and killed over the weekend in Woodbury County. The swan's carcass was found Sunday in the backwaters of the Little Sioux River near Oto.

The swan had a single rifle shot through its neck. It is illegal to shoot swans.

The Natural Resources Department has been introducing captive produced young swans on state wetlands since 1995. The department's goal is to re-establish a wild, free flying population of trumpeter swans in Iowa.

Officials say the program has produced a new modern-day record of 40 successful nesting pairs of trumpeter swans in 2009.

-- Associated Press