Attack on the swans

On September 18, 2020 we received a call for help about a couple of swans being attacked by some children at Anderson Park in Napier.

The report was on Sally and Deano and their 2 off spring cygnets. We had recently been watching her building her nest site a few weeks prior. The report said that Sally and Deano were trying to protect themselves and their chicks from an assault. Unfortunately Deano had sustained some serious injuries and was unlikely to survive. We brought him in to the centre and administered pain relief and treatment until we could take him for a vet assessment the following morning.

Sadly, the call was made to put Deano to sleep :(

Deano had multiple fractures and fresh wounds and was unable to be treated for these.

Sally appeared to have a sore leg and has bumblefoot issues from eating bread, this may very well be why she couldn't move fast enough. We checked on her and her cygnets the next day, we are confident she will heal in the wild and find a new partner eventually.

We will visit the area regularly to apply treatment to her leg as was deemed at this stage to treat her in her home environment instead of uplifting her and her young. We will do our best to support her unless is deemed absolute necessary to bring them in.

Parent's, we urge you please educate our younger generation Swans pair/bond for life and do become very depressed when they have lost their partner. We will continue to watch Sally and her chicks as she raises her off spring alone.