Baby swans are the new stars in Brooklyn. But fame comes with a cost.

On a recent Friday morning, a family of birds glided across Prospect Park Lake in front of the Boathouse. Onlookers paused their walks to take pictures. Around 20 children mobbed the lakeshore with phones at the ready.

They were enthralled by eight swans: a bonded male and female, and their six babies, or cygnets.

“Everyone is taking photos and videos of the swans,” said Lisa Deneau, a pet photographer. “On the weekends, forget about it.”

Denau, who lives in Windsor Terrace, visits the park daily to photograph the swans. Her hobby started about a year ago, when she was just photographing the swan parents (who dedicated volunteers have named Biggie and FM). The arrival of the cygnets further stoked her devotion.

Though these birds and their fuzzy offspring are a source of beauty and meaning for many, they also highlight long standing tensions between New Yorkers and urban wildlife.

Some New Yorkers are dedicating their time and energy to protecting the swans from their fans and poachers, while others say the birds are members of an aggressive, invasive species that's ill-suited to city life.

‘Since the cygnets are such a spectacle, checking on them is a priority’

Ever since the cygnets made their debut on the lake in late May, the family can often be found surrounded by admirers.

“Every day I check on the baby swans,” said Amanda Krebs, who lives in Prospect Lefferts Gardens. “It restores my faith in humanity.”

Also watching the swans is the Swan Squad, a small, informal group of five New Yorkers who monitor and occasionally rescue Prospect Park wildlife.

The group banded together in 2021, after a female swan’s mate was taken by poachers while she was still on her nest. They decided that local swans — as well as other Prospect Park wildlife — need community protection, so they patrol the park, looking for animals in distress. They’re on high alert for poachers who steal fish, turtles, geese and other creatures, either to sell or to eat.

Sarah Wagner, a member of the Swan Squad, said that “baby season” (spring through Labor Day) is always hectic for her crew. Warmer weather means more human activity in the park, which can mean more clashes between people and wildlife.

“Since the cygnets are such a spectacle, checking on them is a priority,” Wagner said via text message.

There’s so much buzz around the cygnets in part because they’re the park’s first in a while. According to Wagner and fellow Swan Squad member Mary Beth Artz, there were three swan pairs on the lake last year, each with their own nest, but none of those eggs hatched. In 2023, another pair on the lake lost all but one of their cygnets within a few months.

Biggie and FM are now the only swans in Prospect Park, and this is the first clutch of eggs they’ve had hatch since they arrived in 2022.

Life can be tough for these young birds, especially in the early days. They share the park with natural predators like snapping turtles and herons. Humans also pose a significant threat to swans, particularly negligent anglers.

On Saturday, Swan Squad member Andrew Uroskie jumped into Prospect Park Lake to untangle one of the cygnets from a fishing line, a bold move that local wildlife photographer Jeffrey Jones caught on video and posted to Instagram.

‘I saw one bullying a duck’

Biggie and FM are mute swans, which were brought to the United States from Europe in the late nineteenth century. Mute swans are an invasive species.

In 2013, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation introduced a plan to cull the mute swan population, which was later amended to specify “non-lethal management” of the species.

Mute swans are also territorial birds. Biggie and FM won dominion over Prospect Park Lake after Biggie fought off the two other pairs that used to live there. One swan had to be euthanized following the fight with Biggie. A mute swan detractor might say Biggie killed his competition. Members of the Swan Squad point out that the swan succumbed, in part, to preexisting injuries.

“The swans are sort of a controversial animal. We do have members of the public that are like, ‘Why are they there? Why are people feeding them? I saw one bullying a duck,’” said Urban Park Ranger Robert Bradfield. “They’re much prettier than a lot of our other invasive species, but there do end up being mixed feelings.”

Swans can even turn dangerous when exposed to well-intentioned humans, like those that feed them bread.

“Human food is not good for wildlife in general. It habituates them to associate humans with food, which is going to cause conflicts,” Ranger Bradfield explained. “Just like bears in Yellowstone, they’re big animals, they can be aggressive, and if they associate you with food, it’s more likely that they’re going to be aggressive towards you.”

Feeding swans bread can also cause them to develop nutritional deficiencies.

“It’s not a great habitat for them,” said Bradfield, referring to the swans in Prospect Park. “It’s in the middle of Brooklyn. Pollution is always an issue.”

The Wild Bird Fund, a wildlife rehabilitation center on the Upper West Side, has treated 32 swans from Prospect Park — and 150 mute swans overall — in the last 10 years, according to their communications director Catherine Quayle.

Biggie was brought to the Wild Bird Fund in 2023 for swallowing a fishing hook. During that stay, he was also treated for lead poisoning.

A ‘horrible’ loss on the lake

While this story was being reported, the six cygnets became five. As the group swam in the water last week near the LeFrak Center — their preferred area of the park, for now — a cygnet was pulled underwater. Swan Squad members who heard about the incident believe it was a snapping turtle attack.

Deneau was photographing the swans when the death occurred, and captured a shot of the cygnet going under.

“It happened very quickly. The cygnet was up and down, and then it perished,” Deneau said. “And it was horrible. I felt helpless, and I was heartbroken, and I was angry.”

As part of her pet photography business, Deneau often shoots clients and their dogs in Prospect Park. She said that her experience with the swans has given her a newfound appreciation for the emotional highs and lows of wildlife photography. She still visits the swans every day.

“Sometimes our patience and persistence is rewarded,” Deneau reflected. “And sometimes, as I now have experienced, we just have to accept something that’s very difficult and move on with gratitude for the times that enrich our lives and delight us.”