New York's Department of Environmental Conservation has come up with a revised plan for dealing with non-native mute swans, the majestic white water birds. The new plan involved less shooting and more management.

The department proposed the original plan in December 2013, which asked to shoot and destroy the eggs of the elegant long-necked birds, in order to eliminate the wild populations.

There are many other states including, Maryland, Michigan that have similar plans, with wildlife biologists citing damage that the swans can cause to the native species.

The plan was backed off by the department last March, following an outcry by New York City animal lovers, according to whom the rationale for killing the graceful birds was flawed.

The department, on Monday, released a plan and said that it will entertain the comments just for 45 days.

The plan has still asked for killing free-ranging mute swans around Lake Ontario, but at the same time has allowed downstate municipalities to manage swans in public parks while preventing them from breeding or escaping.

Joe Martens, Environmental Conservation Commissioner, said, "Wildlife management can present challenges in trying to balance conflicting interests, such as when a beautiful bird has undesirable impacts".

In New York, mute swan population is around 2,200, most of them on Long Island, around New York City and in the lower Hudson Valley. Since the late 1980s, a different population of over 200 birds has been established along Lake Ontario.

The new plan has called the department and the interested municipalities to work together for the implementation of the local mute swan management plans, under which the communities would be allowed to keep swans at local parks. And, in turn the communities would need to help the department monitor and manage wild mute swans to prevent them from breeding.