Hunters Accused of Shooting Whistling Swan

Two Newport Beach men have been ordered to appear in a Riverside County court next month to to answer charges that they shot and killed a whistling swan in violation of state law, a spokesman for the Department of Fish and Game said Tuesday.

The men were identified by Fish and Game Department spokesman Pat Moore as Bernhart Robert E. Pautsch, 66, and Lawrence R. Harris, 58. They were arrested by wardens on Nov. 26 at a hunt club near Hemet, Moore said.

Fish and Game Lt. Al Stegall said one of several other hunters who witnessed the shooting at the club used the department’s toll-free hot line, Cal-TIP (California Turn In Poachers), to notify authorities. The number is (800) 952-5400.

While whistling swans are not on the federal list of endangered species, Moore said, they are protected under two sections of the state code because of their status as migratory non-game birds.

“Whistling swans are large, mostly white birds, often with a wing span of seven feet,” Moore said. “They winter along the southern parts of the Pacific Coast, but they are seldom seen because their numbers just aren’t all that great.”

Moore said Pautsch and Harris were each cited for one misdemeanor count, which carries a maximum penalty of $1,000 and six months in jail.

They are to appear Jan. 14 in Mount San Jacinto Municipal Court in Hemet.