Hope for swans - thank you
This year we introduced you to Hope, a Bewick's swan fitted with a GPS tag that lets us track her remarkable migratory journeys. Hope and her companions are at risk. Research has revealed an alarming trend: Bewick's swan numbers plummeted from 29,000 to 18,000 between 1995 and 2010 – that's more than a third lost in just 15 years.
Climate change, disruption to once dependable food sources due to changes in farming activity, infrastructure development, illegal hunting and the presence of powerlines: each are potentially life-threatening to migratory swans. That's why we are poised to lead an international project to study the causes of the decline and take action to reverse them.
To put our plan into action we needed to raise a total of £70,000, and thanks to a generous pledge to match your donations, we were given the chance to double every pound donated by you.
We asked for your help, and here is the news you have been waiting for…
You smashed the target! In total we have raised an incredible £113,008 and thanks to you, the extra money will all go to our Bewick’s swans research and give swans like Hope the best possible chance to survive.
Don't forget you can follow Hope and her companions, and the International project that you are making possible by visiting wwt.org.uk/swans, and going to our swan news section.
Thank you
