The swan that was attacked by a dog earlier this month while breeding has died. According to the Animal Ambulance, the lower beak was too badly damaged, so it was decided to put her to sleep. Last week it became clear that after the attack, two of the swan’s eggs had become too cold to hatch. The three cups that did hatch from their eggs turned out to be seriously mutilated and did not survive. With the death of the mother swan, the family drama seems complete.
The swan’s fledgling family happiness was brutally disrupted this month when a dog attacked the brooding swan. A local resident saw the damaged animal and alerted the Animal Ambulance. The beak of the swan was badly damaged and the animal was in shock. An ornithologist in Utrecht has tried to repair the beak.
At first, the operation seemed to have gone well. The animal recovered and even tried to hatch the dead eggs. The hope was to reunite the animal with the father swan so that the couple would start a second lay.
The damaged beak. Text continues after the photo
At the beginning of this week, the three swan pullets that had hatched turned out not to have survived. The pulls had serious abnormalities. There were problems with the legs and there was also one with a broken beak.
According to Saskia Thijssen of the Animal Protection, it was very difficult to say exactly what caused this. “We don’t know whether it has to do with the stress or whether something has gone wrong genetically,” she told NH Nieuws at the beginning of this week.
The pulls. Text continues after the photo
Yesterday it was decided to put the mother swan to sleep. The lower beak turned out to be too badly damaged. “As a whooper swan you just need a properly working beak. Not only to eat, but also to perform behaviors, to be able to slobber under water and you name it,” says the Animal Ambulance on Facebook.
Despite the fact that a return to the nest was out of the question, the employees are happy that the animal was still able to ‘be a swan.’
“An end to a fierce period, for everyone who was involved”
“It is the end of a tough period for everyone involved. We are proud of our volunteers and their unbridled commitment to mother and the chicks despite this outcome and for each subsequent animal that commitment will not diminish”, said the Animal Ambulance.
The father swan is still sought after to let him say goodbye to his love. Unfortunately, he was nowhere to be seen, but he will be searched again this weekend.
learning story
The service hopes that dog owners will pay more attention to where they should leash their four-legged friends and that the family drama of the swan family will become a learning story for everyone: “Because there is also animal suffering that is very easy to prevent.”
? Don’t you want to miss anything from Zaanstreek-Waterland?
Seen a language error? Let us know at [email protected]