Not a Bird, Not a Plane! Conservationist Flies with Swans to Solve Mystery of Species’ Decline

London conservationist Sacha Dench isn't letting these Bewick's swans disappear and she's taking it to the air for her cause. Flying in a small motorized paraglider, she is set to join thousands of swans as they start their annual migration from the Arctic to western Europe on Sept. 15.

According to a report from The Guardian, the "human swan" is attempting this feat to solve the mystery of the Bewick's swan's decline. The past 20 years haven't been kind to the bird as the population dramatically dropped in Europe from around 29,000 in 1995 to 18,000 in 2010.

Dench is hoping she will be able to answer the questions when she gets back from her 4,600-mile journey. It's expected to take her several weeks to complete, likely around late October, as she flies past Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Germany, Denmark, Netherlands, Belgium, France and back to the wetlands centre in Slimbridge, a report from BBC revealed.

The length of time she's up in the air and the distance she's flying make her trip an ardous one, but the conservationist has years of paragliding experience and has gone through tundra survival courses to help her prepare for this mission.

Bewick's Swans and Their Dwindling Numbers

Hunting is a big part of the disappearance of the Bewick's swan. During the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust (WWT) examinations of the animal, over a third of the ones they were able to study have pellet wounds. However, it may not be the only reason.

"The disappearance of wetlands, which the swans like to land on; predation from other animals; the proliferation of power lines, which the swans strike in mid-flight; and climate change, which is altering the vegetation on which the swans depend - all of these may be involved," Dench pointed out to The Guardian. "I hope to find out the culprits."