Two of the Denver Zoo’s newest hatchlings will be flying east in October, according to zoo officials.
The zoo’s first trumpeter swan hatchlings, called cygnets, will be sent to Iowa in the fall when they are full grown.
The brother and sister will be sent to the Trumpeter Swan Restoration Project in their native habitat.
The cygnets were originally scheduled to leave in September.
“I think it’s pretty hot right now, and we want to wait for it to cool down before we transport them,” said John Azua, Denver Zoo’s curator of birds.
It’s also better that they are reared by their parents, who mate for life, than a human.
“The parents are able to teach them things,” he said.
More than 900 swans have been released since the Iowa program began in 1995.
“Iowa has been able to release the largest population of trumpeter swans of any state, and we wouldn’t have been able to achieve this great success without the support of partners like Denver Zoo,” Ron Andrews, Trumpeter Swan Restoration coordinator with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, said in a statement.
Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, South Dakota and Ohio are also involved in reintroduction projects.
This is the first time the zoo has sent trumpeter swans to a reintroduction program, Azua said.
There are four different release sites in Iowa but they have not determined which the cygnets will use. The Iowa Department of Natural Resources will likely keep the birds for about a year before releasing them, Azua said.
Though there are about 16,000 wild trumpeter swans today, they were at one time considered endangered and given national protection in 1918.
“Their numbers have recovered nicely,” Azua said.
The male and female cygnet, who hatched on June 11 and 12, are on display at the zoo with their parents in the pond between the Pioneer Train and the flamingos.
They will remain on display until their departure. Azua recommends stopping by the pond between 9 and 11 a.m. when the birds are most active.
Staff writer Sara Crocker can be reached at 303-954-1661 or at scrocker@denverpost.com
