The Minnesota VOLUNTEER July-August 1989

The Battle to Save Poisoned Trumpeter Swans

Last year's drought exposed these rare birds to a fatal form of poisoning Laurie Degernes, D.V.M., and Barb Walker

ONDAY M O R N I N G , J a n . 9 ,

1989,

H e n n e p i n Parks workers brought a dead trumpeter swan from Sunny Lake in Carver Park Reserve to the Raptor Center at the University of Minnesota St. Paul campus for a necropsy (autopsy). Since there were suspicions that several other swans at the r e f u g e w e r e ill, doctors performed the necropsy immediately. The results showed that the swan had died of lead poisoning.

Lead Poisoning

Swans feeding off lake bottom may ingest lead along with sand and grit. The poisonous lead fell into water when hunters shot lead shotgun pellets years ago.

Dr. Degernes, left, and Dr. Freeman anesthetize lead-poisoned swan to prepare for removing lead pellets from its gizzard.

That afternoon, Hennepin Parks workers brought five sick swans and two more dead swans from Sunny Lake. Clinical signs, blood tests, and X-rays confirmed lead poisoning in these birds. During the next three days, Hennepin Parks workers made
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daily trips from Sunny Lake, bringing 17 more birds, 15 of which were confirmed to be victims of lead poisoning. The two lucky swans were returned to a safe refuge in Hennepin Parks. The source of the poison was lead
THE MINNESOTA VOLUNTEER

X-rays show presence of shotgun pellets in gizzard.

Colonoscope passed down esophagus and into gizzard allows doctors to check for and remove pellets remaining after flushing. Large amounts of water flushed into swan's gizzard wash out food, grit, and lead shot.

shotgun pellets, shot by hunters more than 25 years ago when waterfowl hunting was still allowed in the area. (Use of lead shot for hunting waterfowl has not been permitted statewide since 1987.) Low water during the past two years allowed swans at
JULY-AUGUST 1989

Sunny Lake to reach previously inaccessible parts of the lake bottom. The swans ingested the lead shot with the sand and grit they swallow to digest coarse food in their gizzard (stomach). The grinding action of the gizzard dissolved the lead shot, allowing
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Lead Poisoning
Convalescing trumpeter swans use wading pool at the Raptor Center. Treatment for lead poisoning takes up to six weeks. Successfully treated swans then go to lead-free refuges.

the lead to enter the bloodstream and cause the poisoning. Lead poisoning of birds is not a new problem. By the late 1800s, trumpeter swans were extirpated from Minnesota because of uncontrolled hunting and possibly lead poisoning. Lead poisoning is believed to kill 2 million to 3 million ducks, geese, and swans every year in the United States.
Laurie Degernes is staffVeterinarian and Barb Walker is public relations director, the Raptor Center, University of Minnesota, St. Paul.
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Since 1986, the Raptor Center has been treating up to 40 trumpeter swans a year for lead poisoning. Reintroducing Swans. This year's cases of lead poisoning were a major setback to efforts to restore trumpeter swans to our statean effort Hennepin Parks began in 1966. In 1969 the first cygnets hatched in Minnesota. Releases to the wild began in 1979, and by the fall of 1988, the flock had grown to 100 birds. T h e D e p a r t m e n t of N a t u r a l Resources Nongame Wildlife ProT H E MINNESOTA VOLUNTEER

gram also is restoring the trumpeter swan in Minnesota. Since 1986 the DNR has collected 50 eggs each year from wild swan nests in Alaska. It has received cygnets from private sources and raised the young. In 1987 the DNR began releasing 2-year-old birds near Detroit Lakes in western Minnesota. The DNR also has hatched eggs from the Hennepin Parks flock, raised the young, and later returned them to Hennepin Parks. Hennepin Parks has been using Sunny Lake as a wintering area for trumpeter swans for the past 20 years and, more recently, for cygnets and yearlings raised by the Minnesota and Wisconsin DNRs. Most of the 35 swans brought to the Raptor Center from Sunny Lake w e r e "captively m a n a g e d ' b i r d s (wings clipped or pinioned). Sixteen swans at Sunny Lake were free-flying birds that could not be caught for blood tests. However, by late February eight of the free-flying birds were sick enough to be captured and brought to the clinic. Lead poisoning of trumpeter swans was not confined to Sunny Lake; it was a statewide problem. At least 20 lead-poisoned swans came to the Raptor Center from other areas in the state, and one was shipped from the state of Washington. During January and February 1989, the Raptor Center, a facility that treats primarily eagles, hawks, falcons, and owls, became a "swan center as it cared for critically ill trumpeters. Recause of its pioneering work on the
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effects of lead poisoning in bald eagles (see "The Case of the Poisoned Eagles" in the November-December 1981 Volunteer), the Raptor Center was well-versed in treating birds with lead poisoning. Lead Treatment. The diagnosis of lead poisoning in swans is based on clinical signs such as weakness, reduced activity, loss of appetite, weight loss, green diarrhea, drooping wings, and partial paralysis of the legs. Rlood tests are taken to determine the concentration of lead in the blood, the degree of anemia (as a result of lead interference with red blood cell production), and the extent of kidney and liver damage. X-rays show the quantity of shotgun pellets in the gizzard, but they cannot distinguish between lead and steel shot. The swans receive EDTA (calcium disodium salt) intravenously twice a day for up to six weeks to bind and remove the dissolved lead from their bodies. The birds are injected with vitamins and iron and given medication to prevent aspergillosis, an often fatal fungal respiratory disease. Some swans must be force fed. X-rays s h o w e d t h a t 24 swans brought to the Raptor Center in January and February had from three to 56 shotgun pellets in their gizzard (all later proven to be lead shot). Martin Freeman, M . D . , gastrointestinal specialist from the Hennepin County Medical Center, helped the clinic develop a technique to remove the pellets from the swan's gizzard with7

Lead Poisoning

The Raptor Center Moves to State-of-the-Art Facility

The Raptor Center at the University of Minnesota is the world's largest medical facility for the care and treatment of raptors (birds of prey) and other species of rare or endangered birds. The center recently opened a new 20,000-square-foot building on the University of Minnesota's St. Paul campus. It includes outdoor aviaries, exhibits with live birds, an auditorium for demonstrations, indoor flight pens, and state-of-the-art treatment and surgery facilities. The new building can house 150 birds for treatment, as well as 30 birds for educational programs and displays. The 16year-old rehabilitation program annually treats 550 birds, most of which have been shot, trapped, poisoned, hit by cars, or injured by contact with power lines. The Raptor Center's veterinarians have developed anesthesia and treatment techniques used worldwide. The $2.3 million building was a gift from Don and Louise Gabbert. Although part of the University's College of Veterinary Medicine, the Raptor Center's $500,000 annual operating budget is funded almost entirely by private contributions and grants from foundations. B e c a u s e the t r e a t m e n t for leadpoisoned swans is so expensive, and no agency anticipated the crisis, the Raptor Center has exceeded its annual operating budget for the rehabilitation. Donations are greatly appreciated, and may be made payable to the Raptor Center Swans. Send contributions to the address below. If you would like to visit the new building or become involved as a member or volunteer, write: The Raptor Center, Raptor Research and Rehabilitation Program, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN 55108. Phone:612-624-4745.

out surgery. This was an important early step in the treatment to prevent further absorption of lead. As an anesthetized swan was held on a tilted surgery table, its gizzard was flushed with large amounts of water. Once most of the food and grit were washed out, Freeman passed a human colonoscope down the swan's 3V2-foot-long esophagus and into the gizzard to check for remaining pellets. A small cable with tiny forceps was passed t h r o u g h an o p e r a t i n g channel in the colonoscope to retrieve any shot that remained. M e d i c a l t r e a t m e n t s for l e a d poisoned swans may take up to six weeks. Once the swans are successfully treated, they are placed in leadfree refuges where they are closely watched for further problems. Blood tests are repeated in two to three months to monitor their health. Large Investment. All of the swans under 2 years of age will be kept in refuges until they are released as 2year-olds. The adults will be allowed to fly free once they molt in the summer. Next fall and winter, Hennepin Parks will attempt to lure trumpeters to lead-free refuges. Since little is known about the long-term effects of lead poisoning on survival, behavior, and reproduction, we hope to be able to monitor these birds over the next decade to answer these questions. A total of 56 lead-poisoned trumpeter swans were brought to the Raptor Center since the fall of 1988, including 10 that were dead on arrival.
T H E MINNESOTA VOLUNTEER

Of the 46 birds treated, 20 were eventually released after intensive treatment. Saving these swans was an important achievement because the number of eggs and cygnets available for restoration is very limited, and there is a considerable investment of time and money in each bird. The cost of raising each swan for release to the wild is about $1,960. The cost to successfully treat each lead-poisoned swan was about $1,500. As for the future of trumpeter swans in Minnesota, the DNR, Hennepin Parks, the Raptor Center, and other concerned organizations and individuals will continue working to ensure survival of the birds reintroduced to Minnesota. The Raptor Center gained a tremendous knowledge of lead poisoning in trumpeter swans, making it the world's leading authority on this subject. This knowledge should help make f u t u r e t r e a t m e n t s more effective. Although these incidents of lead poisoning killed nearly 15 percent of the estimated 240 trumpeter swans restored to Minnesota through the efforts of Hennepin Parks and the DNR Nongame Wildlife Program, there is still room for optimism. The DNR will be releasing 33 more 2-yearold swans in northwestern Minnesota this year. About 40 swans released

in the previous two years are still "on the wing,'' and 13 swans are old enough to begin nesting this year. All of Hennepin Parks' breeding swans that lost mates because of lead poisoning have found new mates, and there is hope for some successful nesting attempts this year. In a few years we hope all Minnesotans will be able to share in viewing these beautiful swans in the wild. The prevalence of lead shot on shallow lake bottoms suggests lead poisoning will affect t h e s e rare b i r d s and o t h e r waterfowl for many years to come. However, luring swans to lead-free refuges and the dispersed pattern in which wild, free-flying t r u m p e t e r swans live should prevent recurrence of large-scale tragedies like those at Sunny Lake in 1989.
Editor's note: People interested in learning more about the status, management, and restoration of trumpeter swans may want to attend the Trumpeter Swan Society Conference Sept. 6-9, Holiday Inn International Airfiort, Interstate 494 and 34th Avenue South, Minneapolis. A general information session is open to the public 9 a.m. to noon, Sept. 9. Cost of this session is $4, and no preregistration is required. For conference registration information, write: Donna Compton, the Trumpeter Swan Society, 3800 County Road 24, Maple Plain, MN 55359. Phone: 612-476^663.

Our Disappearing,
development destroys more than swamps, potholes, and ponds.
E A C H YEAH, JULY-AUGUST 1989

Wetlands
400,000

acres of marshes, bogs, The Wilderness Society

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