Thunderstorms endanger zoo swans
Thunderstorms are a danger for many animals, including black-necked swans. The National Zoo treated two chicks who went into shock recently as a result of a storm.
Three thunder-terrified swan cygnets had to receive zoological ‘first aid’ after Gauteng’s first thunderstorm in August.
The fluffy black-necked cygnets were found in a state of shock. The staff assessed the situation and determined that the chicks would not survive further inclement weather.
The curators of the zoo thereafter decided to remove them from their parents for further rearing by the staff. The three chicks were incubated by the parent birds and, up until the thunderstorm, were kept warm by their parents.
Once taken away, the cygnets were kept in a heated brooder for three weeks, and have now been moved to a bigger enclosure with a shallow pool for daytime activities and a secure night room for rest. They will be introduced back to the parent birds when they are approximately two months old.
Black-necked swans are indigenous to the lakes, swamps, marshes, and lagoons of southern South America, extending from the tip of the continent to as far north as central Chile.
These birds are the smallest species of swan with males being slightly larger than the females. The National Zoo is home to a pair of black-necked swans that have been together for four years. Black-necked swans mate for life.
In 2004 and 2005, thousands of black-necked swans in the Carlos Anwandter Nature Sanctuary in Chile died or migrated after a pulp mill contaminated the Cruces River, which feeds the wetlands. By August 2005, the birds in the sanctuary had been wiped out, only four birds were left from a population which was estimated at 5 000.
The black-necked swan is relatively silent. The female lays four to six eggs in a nest of vegetation. Their diet consists mainly of vegetation, insects and fish spawn.
