My first post. We have a few ponds in our area that have volunteers who look after the wildlife. There is one particular pond where the swans and cygnets fairly regular go on a walkabout. In June we had an incident in which the family of swans(Pen and Cob and 7 cygnets.) were attacked by some dogs which were off leads.Unfortunately,the Cob and two of the cygnets were injured. Unfortunately the Cob had to be put to sleep and one of the cygnets passed away. This was because the family were alway wandering away from the pond area, to where there is a main road and a lot of dog walkers. What I am wondering is why do they often just go on walkabouts, could it be a lack of natural food in the pond or another reason. A lot of people visit the pond and feed them as well. Thanks
martin
First, welcome to the forum Martin, from the West Midlands.
Sadly, that is all too common a tale, where wildlife wanders and become victims to dogs off leads.
While I can't give a definitive answer, i'm sure someone will be able to, but swans, like other wild creatures, don't have boundaries, they don't fully recognise that a public park might not be the ideal place to be, all they see is somewhere to explore, and possibly a new food source. you mention there are lot of ponds, and very often public places will have water features that are either natural, enhanced or totally manmade. Again, just the fact there is water, and swans, as with all wildlife, do not have the same idea of boundaries as we do.
They may actually be regular visitors to the area where they were attacked, and if they have been able to visit safely before, then they will see no reason why they shouldn't return.
It could be the food stocks were getting low, and with the recent heatwave, they will do what they can to maintain adequate food supplies, just as we would. if our local supermarkets didn't have what we need, then we too would venture further away from home to get that necessary supply, or use online shopping, and that is not something nature can resort to.
I hope that helps to understand why the swans had ventured in an area toi meet such a sad demise.
Mike
Flickr: Peak Rambler