Ottawa's Royal Swans cost a king's ransom

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

Royal birds, it appears, come with a royal price tag. It costs just under $500 a month to keep one of Ottawa's Mute Swans, descended from birds that were a gift in 1967 from Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, in good health. Compare that to the $32 a month the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA) estimates was needed to keep a sow in October.

Not only are the birds expensive to maintain, but it seems that the structure used to house them in winter needs replacing. Six designs have been suggested with costs ranging from $239,020 to $545,250, which works out to between $18,386 and $41,942 per bird. The price per sow place? A mere $1,491, suggests OMAFRA

Not only are the costs astronomical, but "Bird Studies Canada," a not-or-profit organization, has listed the non-native species as being "likely to pose a serious threat to native species of waterfowl and the integrity of the ecosystem if their populations are allowed to continue growing."