Environment
| TOP STORIES |  | | | | | | | FEATURES | | | | | | MAYOR NEWS | | | | TRAVEL | | | | COMPETITIONS | | |
|
|
|
Strangled swan returns to the water
 |
| Jackie Beer, clinical manager at the London Wildcare Trust hospital, bids farewell to her new friend. |
A swan which was rescued after being found strangled in Wandsworth's King George's Park in February has been released back into the wild following two months of specialist treatment.
He joined hundreds of other swans on the Thames just before Easter after being nursed back to health by staff at the London Wildcare Trust hospital in Wallington.
The swan took his first few steps of freedom near Kingston Bridge with a female companion, who was brought to the Trust after a fight other birds.
Staff hope he will find a new girlfriend, as his mate is thought to have been killed by his attackers.
Trust founder Ted Burden said: "I expect he'll have a look at the ladies down there and have a good time for a bit. He's got many swans to choose from now."
He added: "He took to the water well, and made off with three ducks. Swans usually hiss at ducks, but he made a little posse with them. It was very sweet."
The swan is fully recovered after physiotherapy and anti-inflamatory treatments and will be well-fed by the public down at the river.
Mr Burden said: "He spent a long time with us, which shows how hard those guys tried to wring his neck. We didn't know whether we could save the animal, so the smiles coming over people's faces at the end when he began to recover just makes my job worthwhile."
However cruelty to swans is ongoing. In the same week the Wandsworth swan was set free, two others were beaten to death in Beckenham by a gang of youths.
Anyone who witnesses someone causing harm or distress to local wildlife should contact Wandsworth Parks Police on 020 8871 7532.
12:03pm Thursday 3rd April 2008
Print 
Email this 
Comment
What are these links for?
If you liked this article and would like to share it with others on the web who might be searching for good content we've made it easy for you to do it.
At the bottom of all articles, you'll see links to six sites. These sites - commonly called 'social bookmark' or 'social news' sites - have large communities of web users who share and rate interesting, useful and fun things on the web.
Clicking the links will automatically add the address of the story you are reading to one of these sites, letting you share it with others. Each site will ask you to register to share stories. Registration is free and once a member, you can store, recommend and search for stories that interest you.
More on Digg
More on del.icio.us
More on Furl
More on reddit
More on NowPublic/
More on Yahoo!
