A PAIR of gay swans were removed from a lake after they kept attacking swimmers in a bid to protect their nest of plastic cups which they treated like real eggs. The swans had viciously attacked several people at the lake in the village of Grundlsee, in the southeastern state of Styria, in Austria. Both swimmers and passers-by suffered the wrath of the swans after venturing into the vicinity of the nest. The swans became increasingly aggressive and one victim was left with a 10-cm gash as a result. Local mayor Franz Steinegger opted to relocate the swans to a rescue center for wild animals — although wildlife experts had advised that one option was euthanasia. “We had to act urgently. But I simply didn’t have the heart to have the two swans killed by a hunter,” Mayor Steinegger said. He called in expert Alexander Groder and his wife to move the swans to their center, in Upper Austria, which specializes in difficult rescue cases. The couple captured the swans and took them to their base. They will soon be moved on to a pond in the western state of Tyrol, where they will have more room. However, it is unclear if their nest of cups will be moved too. Experts had initially been baffled by the aggression displayed by the pair of swans but then spotted their nest filled with colorful plastic cups. (SD-Agencies) |