Several swans found dead at Sacramento County park
MATHER -- A deadly discovery was made in a Sacramento County park. Several swans were found dead in and near Mather Lake in the Mather Regional Park this week.
At least nine birds were found dead, according to Ben Nuckolls, a wildlife capture specialist who regularly cleans the water of fishing wire. Animals, like swans, can become tangled in the wire as the area is used for fishing.
Nuckolls told Cme he saw three to four swans dead on the lake and discovered five to six more in the grass near the water. White feathers were scattered on the grass between the carcasses that appeared to have been eaten by other wildlife as of Monday night.
Nuckolls reported the dead swans to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, and by Monday, he told me that they had visited the county park to review the scene and took samples to determine a cause of death.
"I can't imagine a pack of coyotes taking out nine swans," said Lynette Vertrees with Sierra Wildlife Rescue.
Vertrees is one of the volunteers, along with Nuckolls, who works to clean local waterways and protect wildlife.
She told me that no one at this point can say what is causing the swans to die. She said it's possible that coyotes in the same environment could be involved, but there have also been cases of avian flu among this group of mute swans on Mather Lake in years past. Nothing has been confirmed.
"We're just really worried because if the swans were easy targets because they became sick and they weren't actually hunted, and there's something wrong with them, [like] a case of avian flu or whatever virus they might have. It may just be affecting the swans right now, but I'm worried that the coyotes are scavenging and ate the swans and it could jump to them," Vertrees said.
On Monday, Sacramento County Park Rangers were alerted by CBS13 to the swan deaths and started their own investigation. Rangers were at Mather Lake shortly after the inquiry.
Wildlife volunteers told CBS13 they planned to safely remove the dead swans from Mather Lake within the week to prevent contamination of the ecosystem of any kind.
