Three swan swans have been found dead on a footpath in a popular park in just two days, as locals may have been hit by bicycles.
The loss of the three Bavia swans was “horrific” for those walking through Cherry Hinton Hall Park, Cambridge. Two of the birds, born on May 7, were found dead on a trail on May 23, while the third chick was found dead. They discovered it a day later. Locals believe that since the swans did not suffer any superficial injuries, except for neck fractures, they would have possibly been run over by bicycles.
Bella Apagyi, 41, an animal lover, lives five minutes from Cherry Hinton Hall Park and looks for swans twice a day, adding that on May 23, when two were discovered dead, she said: “It’s pretty horrible. I saw that someone had posted a picture of the father swan and a dead swan next to him on the road in a local Facebook group.
“I went to investigate what was happening because the user who posted it said that it was very bad, but from the photo you can see that he is no longer alive, he is loose like a rag doll. I discovered that there were two that were dead, they had no cuts, they were absolutely intact.
“One of them had his eyes open, indicating that it was a very sudden death. They have their eyes closed because they have time to close them. ” The swans stick to a stream that runs through the park into a housing estate when the park is occupied.
Ms. Apagyi said the birds come out of the park from a gravel slope, but this is very close to the trail where cyclists use it as a “race track. “She said: “No one knows for sure what happened. We can’t point with our hands and say it’s an electric bike or a scooter.
“What I can say is that I saw that the 3 chicks had their necks broken. They were on the path traveled by the bicycles. A predator would have taken them. The ultimate explanation is probably that it’s a bicycle. The parents I would have done it if it was a person, if it was someone aggressive, we would have heard it and noticed it. There are cyclists who use this trail as a running track. At most they gave me a couple of blows and I have an older friend who did. “.
The microbiologist added that the chick’s parents, nicknamed Joseph and Josephine, had a devastating reaction to the death of their babies. She said, “At first, when the swans died, they didn’t realize they were dead. The father was left with the dead chicks and did not need to go out and return to the water.
“I had to take him out while he was looking to attack me and protect him. I had to be out of sight to be able to leave. On the second day, the chicks got lost, they were under pressure, and their behavior changed. I think someone who knows them would know the difference.
“It was heartbreaking when the father lay next to the dead chick waiting for it to wake up. “Apagyi said he wishes more would be done to protect the swans, which have nested in the park for years, and that he received help from others. woman to erect a fence. She explained, “After the death of the third swan, I posted on Facebook to ask if anyone could help me install a transient fence cord mesh to prevent them from accessing the path.
“A girl I know from the park installed a fence with me along the creek to prevent them from going out on the trail. The swans have stopped following the path now and have stopped dying. They haven’t been on the slope since the incident, so the fence completely scared them away.
“This doesn’t save them from going anywhere, they can access the stream and leave the park. We communicated with the municipality because it is a transitory measure and we do not have an authorization as such. Chicks die all the time from herbal causes, like diseases or a fox, but it’s not an herbal cause, it shouldn’t have happened. “
“We can only make sure they don’t put themselves in danger. “Apagyi calls for more protection from birds. He added, “We want to fence to keep wildlife off Cherry Hinton Road and fence off the slope where they can get out. towards the path.
“It would be wonderful if there was some kind of sign or information about the swans, what to do, what not to do, how to feed them. I think that would help. The council wants to take better care of the stream. Currently, it is full of fallen trees, branches and debris, which creates dams and makes it difficult for wildlife to grow.
“Plants grow too much in spaces specially set up for nesting birds and there are small waterfalls for swans to climb. “
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