‘Overly confident’ black swan with ‘a bit of an ego’ banned from town.
A black swan has been removed from a town after “terrorising” other birds and tourists.
The red-beaked bird, known as “Reggie”, was taken away from the River Avon in Warwickshire on Wednesday morning, after inflicting a sustained campaign of violence towards against other birds.
Reggie was first released on to the river that passes through Stratford-upon-Avon two years ago, and attracted the interest of tourists in the historic town due to his unique appearance.
“He was more popular than William Shakespeare,” Cyril Bennis, the swan handler who removed him from the river, told The Telegraph. “People would come from all over the place to see him.”
But Mr Bennis says that in recent months Reggie had become isolated and overly confident “with a bit of an ego”.
Black swans were originally brought over to the United Kingdom from Australia and Tasmania by private collectors.
But the exotic breed is by nature more aggressive and poses a threat to Britain’s more placid white swan population.
Reggie had begun to break up swan pairs and their cygnets, which was disruptive to the wildlife community, Mr Bennis said.
“Other swans appeared to bow in respect and parted to Reggie as he swam through,” Mr Bennis said. “It was extraordinary”.
Reggie then attacked and attempted to drown some of the native mute swans and disrupt them while they were nesting.
‘It began to get out of hand’
Mr Bennis said: “That black swan had attitude. When I caught it yesterday it certainly gave up a fight and a half. I was left with aches and pains this morning.
“It began to get out of hand and it began to be an absolute nightmare. ‘Your days are numbered,’ I said to it, but it didn’t care.”
Mr Bennis added that Reggie had also tried to mate with a white swan in the area. “He shooed out the male and took the female.
“We try not to encourage interbreeding but it was very clear that Mr Terminator had one desire: to stay in Stratford and find a mate.”
Mr Bennis said that having captured Reggie, the black swan will now be rehomed at the Dawlish Waterfowl Centre in Devon, adding that his capture “had to be done” to preserve the peace of the river community.
“It’s the best thing for him,” he said, of the bird’s relocation to an area where black swans have been commonplace for decades. “He’ll have so many mates he’ll be saying, ‘Why in heaven’s name did I spend nine months in Stratford-upon-Avon?’”
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