microrobert
04-21-2012, 06:08 PM
Who, What, Why: How dangerous are swans?
http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/59696000/jpg/_59696686_swan_getty464.jpg
A man has drowned after being attacked by a swan, which knocked him out of his kayak and stopped him swimming to shore. So how dangerous are these graceful white birds?
According to ornithologists, the swan's aggressive reaction is typical for the species, the mute swan, when defending a nest.
"It's presumably a male swan and it's presumably paired, and it's set up home for the spring," says Chris Perrins, Her Majesty's Swan Warden and a retired Oxford ornithologist.
"It's going to defend that territory."
BBC News - Who, What, Why: How dangerous are swans? (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-17736292)
http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/59696000/jpg/_59696686_swan_getty464.jpg
A man has drowned after being attacked by a swan, which knocked him out of his kayak and stopped him swimming to shore. So how dangerous are these graceful white birds?
According to ornithologists, the swan's aggressive reaction is typical for the species, the mute swan, when defending a nest.
"It's presumably a male swan and it's presumably paired, and it's set up home for the spring," says Chris Perrins, Her Majesty's Swan Warden and a retired Oxford ornithologist.
"It's going to defend that territory."
BBC News - Who, What, Why: How dangerous are swans? (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-17736292)