FILE PHOTO: Swans, Mike Christensen_2013
SALT LAKE CITY — The 2020 Utah swan hunt has ended early. Beginning Saturday, Nov. 28, hunters are prohibited from killing swans in Utah. That’s 16 days before the swan harvest season was originally set to end.
The Utah Division of Wildlife Resources (Utah DWR) says the Utah swan hunt ended when the 20th trumpeter swan was killed. That is a federal quota set by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
The limit exists in Utah because of the low population of trumpeter swans in the Greater Yellowstone area.
“This is the second year in a row that we have seen a higher number of trumpeter swans harvested because there were more migrating through Utah than in previous years,” Utah Division of Wildlife Resources Migratory Game Bird Program Coordinator Blair Stringham said in a statement.
There are only 9 states which allow swan hunting in the U.S. Trumpeter and tundra swans both migrate through Utah according to the Utah DWR.
“We realize the early closure means that some permit holders may not harvest a swan, but we appreciate their understanding and support of our efforts to protect the trumpeter swan population,” Stringham said.