Video of man shooting fireworks at swan in Grande Prairie prompts investigation

Alberta Fish and Wildlife officers are investigating after video surfaced of a man allegedly shooting fireworks at swans on a Grande Prairie lake earlier this week.

The video starts calmly, showing swans gliding across a still lake. It’s not long before a bright orange explosion shoots into the frame, narrowly missing one of the birds.

“I was in shock at first because I didn’t know what it was,” said Steve Kennedy, who captured the video on June 17.

“I thought it was a flare gun or something like that, or a firework or Roman candle. I didn’t know.”

Kennedy lives at Crystal Lake Estates, a residential area surrounding a body of water within the city limits of Grande Prairie. Kennedy told CBC News he was taking a video after a thunderstorm of a family of swans when he heard a commotion from across the lake.

“At first I just thought [the man] was chasing the geese and swans away from his yard,” said Kennedy.

“But now that I’m looking back and thinking about it, I think he was chasing the swan away from the baby geese that were over there.”

The video shows a large trumpeter swan in the reeds near the edge of the lake, close to a flapping adult goose and a group of goslings.

The unidentified man can be heard shouting “get out of here,” while occasionally swatting a long instrument in the direction of a swan.

Investigation Opened

After the video was posted to Facebook June 18, residents in the Grande Prairie area reported the incident to Alberta Fish and Wildlife.

In an email to CBC News, the agency confirmed an investigation is ongoing, and they’re asking only people who witnessed the situation personally to contact their Grande Prairie office.

RCMP also say they’re investigating the incident.

Trumpeter swans are protected animals under provincial and federal laws.

Under the Alberta Wildlife Act, anyone found guilty of killing or disturbing a trumpeter swan could be fined up to $100,000 and face a maximum two-year jail term.

High-strung’ birds

Bird expert and professional biologist Chris Fisher said trumpeter swans can be aggressive and territorial.

“Trumpeter swans are quite high-strung birds,” said Fisher, who wrote the book Birds of Alberta.

“It wouldn’t be unusual for a mother swan to run off any sort of other waterfowl, coyotes or even humans in their area.”

“A big, aggressive trumpeter swan could impose its will quite easily on ducks or Canada geese…They can be big brutes to other things but it’s only a defensive mechanism.”

Fisher says for decades trumpeter swan numbers have been in decline, but they’ve seen an uptick in recent years because of provincial and local efforts around Grande Prairie to maintain the bird’s natural habitat.

“You cannot put a well or a pipeline within 800 metres of a known trumpeter swan nesting lake or a known nest sites,” he said.

The City of Grande Prairie was declared the “Home of the trumpeter swan” in 1958 when the city received its charter.

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