Fairford Swan Aid

Recent Swan Rescues - the horrors of fishing tackle

On 16th October 2001 we went out to a swan who had been in a field for some days and was having difficulty walking. On catching him we discovered fishing line tightly wrapped round his upper leg cutting into the flesh almost to the bone (see the pink area at the top of the leg in the photo). A large weight was attached to the line which passed under the tail and back over the body, totally snarling the swan up. His leg and foot were all swollen and there were worries about the blood supply to his lower leg having been cut off and nerve damage. No wonder he could not walk! Think of the pain he must have been in!

Due to other commitments we could not look after this swan ourselves, but gave him to Sue at South West Swan Rescue in Swindon.  His was a long road to recovery.  As of February 2002 he is now walking on the leg again, but a trial period out in the wild was not successful and he will be found a private lake to live on with 3 cygnets which he befriended while receiving treatment.
On 5th October 2001 we received a call about a cygnet on the River Thames at Kelmscott with line hanging from its beak.  There had a fishing match at the weekend.  On arrival, Margaret found not one but two cygnets of the resident family with line hanging from their beaks.  One had a plastic ring with a large piece of lead attached to it - see opposite ( the scale is centimeters).  The other had a tangle of line at the corner of its beak and both ends of the line had been swallowed so it was cutting into the beak.

Margaret cut the line and the cygnets were monitored. Luckily they survived this fishing negligence with our help and the watchfulness of a member of the public.

On 5th February 2002 at 8.30 in the morning we were called to a swan on a local pike fishing lake in Fairford who was tangled in line.  We were horrified to find a swan swimming round in circles with his head attached to his leg while his mate looked on helplessly.

This swan had two triple barbed  hooks in its leg and a large silver fish-shaped pike spinner and line wrapped round its leg.  One of the hooks had two of the barbs deeply embedded in the leg joint - the angler had obviously pulled hard to try and release the hooks, the worst thing he could have done. The second triple barbed hook had one barb in the leg and another had penetrated the swan's beak as he had put his head down to try and peck at the hook.

We took the swan away with its mate calling to it. We had to take it to our vets as the hooks were too deeply embedded to remove ourselves.  The swan was given a general anesthetic and the hooks removed. Unfortunately there was rampant infection and the joint was badly damaged. We are currently trying our best to save the joint otherwise the swan will have to be put to sleep.  He is only 4 years old and is very gentle and sits patiently while being treated.  In the wild he would have been securing a territory with his mate before nesting.  The instinct is so strong in him at this time of year that he is making a nest with twigs at our rescue centre. 

Swan Rescues 2000 Cygnet Rescue 2001 Back to Fairford UK Home Page