PETITION TO BRIGHTON COUNCIL

For many who visit Brighton’s waterfront, a source of joy is watching Mute Swans, the intelligent orange-beaked birds, loved for their beauty and lasting pair bonds. In the spring it is especially moving to watch the parents nest and raise their baby cygnets together.  

Human bonds with Mute Swans are unique.  Mute swans are highly visible, usually returning to their nesting site year after year, and come to know individual people.  We can watch them as they spend months with their babies teaching them to eat, swim, fly, and ultimately head off for lives of their own.  These factors make humans’ relationship with Mute Swans different from many other wild animals and very special.

But what observers may not know is that in March of 2024, Brighton Council passed a motion that supported killing Mute Swans and destroying their eggs.

This devastating practice typically involves coating the eggs in oil, suffocating the developing cygnets, and is devastating for the parents. Mothers often remain on the nest, unknowingly waiting for their cygnets to hatch, risking starvation. 

These swans build their nests, tend it faithfully, protect their eggs, and wait weeks for them to hatch. Not realizing the eggs are dead, mothers have been known to stay on the nest weeks longer than usual, nearly starving but unwilling to give up on the cygnets they think will emerge. Then they have to watch while authorities tear apart their nests and take their eggs away. 

Mute Swans spend 80% of their lives reproducing and raising their young. Egg destruction eliminates a central feature of their wild lives. This act is not inconsequential.  

This petition calls on Brighton Council NOT to enact a Mute Swan Management program involving egg destruction and/or the killing of Mute Swans.

Although Brighton Council will not officially accept this petition, it will still indicate public support from residents of nearby communities, tourists, and visitors.  By creating this petition, we hope that Brighton Council will recognize the overwhelming public interest in Saving Brighton's Swans. Thank you for your support.