In the war against invasive species, the targets are typically unappealing. Think feral pigs, snakehead fish, Asian long-horned beetles and emerald ash borers. But now, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation has declared war on mute swans — the jumbo, snow-white waterfowl with the long, graceful necks — which were introduced from Europe in the late 1800s for their aesthetic appeal.

While they may be handsome, they can also be nasty: destroying habitat for native ducks and geese, attacking other waterfowl and people, and posing a risk to passenger jets.

That is why the department proposed declaring the swans a “prohibited invasive species” and set a goal to eliminate virtually all of the 2,200 swans in the state by 2025. The birds would either be shot or captured and gassed; eggs on nests would be oiled, which keeps them from hatching. A final plan is expected this year.

The crusade against the mute swan, the state’s largest bird, has pitted conservationists and bird-watchers, who generally favor the plan, against animal-rights activists and some parkgoers who seem horrified by it. For the state, it poses an unusual public relations challenge as officials set out to educate a public that sees the birds as a symbol of romantic love.