JACKSON, Wyo. — Nine baby trumpeter swans were released in Yellowstone National Park (YNP) on Wednesday, in a partnership between Wyoming Wetlands Society (WWS), the park and the Wyoming Game and Fish Department.

Three of the swan cygnets released in Yellowstone National Park on Wednesday. Photo: Bill Long // WWS

According to WWS Program Manager Bill Long, six cygnets were released on Alum Creek, which is a repeat location for releasing swans from the captive breeding program. Another three cygnets were released on a lake in the Lamar Valley area, which has not been a past release location before. Swans have not lived in that area for over 50 years.

“It went really well,” Long told Buckrail. “There was a good crowd of people, 35 or 40 people there to watch the release.”

This release is part of an ongoing effort to reintroduce and increase territorial pairs of the species in the historic habitat. In 1986, WWS collaborated with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to create the captive breeding program. This initiative ultimately prevented the need to list trumpeter swans as a threatened species in the area under the Endangered Species Act.

Tyler Griffin, a wildlife biologist with Wyoming Wetlands Society, holds a trumpeter swan from a captive breeding program before releasing it in Yellowstone National Park. This swan has a tracking collar on its neck and a tarsal band on its leg. Photo: Bill Long // WWS

The swans each have a yellow and black tarsal band on one leg with an identifying code. If any of the swans are seen, the public is asked to report the identifying band at reportband.gov. When the swans eventually migrate, their destination will be unknown to the agencies, so any reported sightings will assist in learning more about the birds’ habits. One of the released swans also has a white tracking collar.

“I’d like to emphasize for people to look for those leg bands,” Long said. “The best time to look for the bands is when the swans are on land, loafing, or when they’re tip feeding.”

Tip feeding is when a swan in the water tips forward to feed underwater and the legs are still visible above. The birds were released at 88 days old, and they will not grow all of their flight feathers and begin to fly until they are about 110 days old.

The program raised 27 cygnets this summer, with nine more to be released on the Teton River next week, as well as nine in Ennis, Montana. According to the WWS website, it is the only captive breeding program permitted to release swans in YNP due to “rigorous genetic standards.”

Monica is a Staff Reporter who studied journalism at Syracuse University and has been in the valley since 2015. She loves writing about the local food and bev scene, especially craft beer. When she’s not on the clock, you can find her paddle boarding, sewing, or whipping up a new recipe at home.