Last month, staff from Yellowstone National Park, the Wyoming Wetlands Society and Ricketts Conservation Fund released eight young trumpeter swans (cygnets) in Hayden Valley.

The swans have undergone a decades-long decline in the park, and the release at Alum Creek is part of an ongoing restoration project to increase territorial pairs of the species. From a high of over 60 birds and 17 territorial pairs in the early 1960s, to only four birds in 2009 and 2010, the swan population has declined for a variety of reasons, park officials say. Researchers are collecting data such as nest success, number of territorial pairs, and the number of cygnets produced each year in hopes of determining the reasons for the decline.

Recent releases and other restoration efforts have bolstered the population to over 20 birds and five territorial pairs, park officials say, including natural reproduction in some years.

The effort is a public/private partnership between the National Park Service, Wyoming Wetlands Society, Ricketts Conservation Fund, and Montana State University.

Joe Ricketts, founder of Ricketts Conservation Fund, participated in the recent cygnet release. His fund also supports other avian conservation efforts in the region, including common loons and Clark’s nutcrackers.