Swans kill their offspring (1 Viewer)

[Swanlover]

I live on a floating home and over the past 6-7 yrs our local pair of mute swans will kill 1-2 of their offspring at 5-6 months of age?
I’m thinking the bay is do small that when the young are ready to go off on their own they don’t have a large enough body of water to go so they come back?

 

[Mono]

It is as you suspect, male swans will aggressively defend their territory. If the young have nowhere to go then they will be killed. It can reach extreme levels.

'Traumatic' scenes as swan kills 20 others in Pembroke

Known locally as "Mr Nasty", the swan pecks at his victims before drowning them.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[Swanlover]

It is as you suspect, male swans will aggressively defend their territory. If the young have nowhere to go then they will be killed. It can reach extreme levels.

'Traumatic' scenes as swan kills 20 others in Pembroke

Known locally as "Mr Nasty", the swan pecks at his victims before drowning them.

www.bbc.co.uk

Is relocation to another larger body of water a reasonable action?

 

[Swanlover]

Is relocation to another larger body of water a reasonable action?

To be clearer is it reasonable to relocate fledgling when parents get aggressive? I ask because I have done this several yrs in a row thinking and hoping at least the young swan will have a chance at survival. As they are not native to USA animal groups don’t want to get involved.

 

[dantheman]

To be clearer is it reasonable to relocate fledgling when parents get aggressive? I ask because I have done this several yrs in a row thinking and hoping at least the young swan will have a chance at survival. As they are not native to USA animal groups don’t want to get involved.

If you can safely then why not?

There may however be issues (eg conservation of other species) in helping spread a non-native to other areas.

 

[MiddleRiver]

If you can safely then why not?

There may however be issues (eg conservation of other species) in helping spread a non-native to other areas.

At least where I live (in US), it's illegal and heavily frowned upon to relocate any animals. Spread of disease, stressing species in relocation area, invasives, etc. etc. I learned this when inquiring whether it was ok to move a groundhog to a remote National Forest area (tired of it eating our garden and not wanting to kill it needlessly). The response was a resounding 'no!'.

 

[Swanlover]

If you can safely then why not?

There may however be issues (eg conservation of other species) in helping spread a non-native to other areas.

There already here! I can’t watch this act if murder and then have to watch the decomposition over weeks, one with angle wing was beaten so badly I let her alone to go to sleep instead stressing in a rescue attempt. Tky for feed back not everyone agrees here with me but again they don’t have to witness 👍

 

[dantheman]

There already here! I can’t watch this act if murder and then have to watch the decomposition over weeks, one with angle wing was beaten so badly I let her alone to go to sleep instead stressing in a rescue attempt. Tky for feed back not everyone agrees here with me but again they don’t have to witness 👍

Being already there doesn't mean that they should be helped to spread around the local area ...

Appreciate your concerns ... liking one particular creature over another a difficult one (moral dilemma etc).

Whereabouts in the USA are you? See eg https://www.michigan.gov/documents/dnr/MuteSwanFacts_final_366761_7.pdf


In the UK I seem to recall the overly-aggressive parent swan being removed/relocated in instances (rightly or wrongly) - some individuals are more vicious than others.

 

[dantheman]

There could be several reasons. If the parents are new parents, they may not understand having something so little hang around them and they may react accordingly.

Some (male) swans are known to be particularly vicious - killing all their offspring/other birds. Thought that Testerone levels are particularly high in such birds (abnormally so?).