Bewick's swans are declining tundra breeders that winter in small numbers in the UK, with welfare challenges from hunting on migration routes and habitat loss in wintering areas.
Bewick's swans face welfare challenges across their entire annual cycle. Hunting in Baltic countries during migration, while legal in some jurisdictions, causes direct mortality and wounding of birds. Lead shot poisoning from wetland shooting areas causes progressive neurological damage and death in swans that ingest spent shot while feeding. Climate change is affecting the timing and success of Arctic breeding. Wintering habitat loss through drainage and agricultural change reduces food availability. Individual recognition studies at Slimbridge have revealed that some individual swans arrive with old gunshot wounds or showing signs of lead poisoning, documenting the welfare impacts directly.