A swan that had been residing on Urriðakot lake in the municipality of Garðabær was saved from certain death earlier today, Morgunblaðið reports. The swan had managed to get his bill stuck in half a can of Red Bull at least two weeks ago, preventing the swan from feeding. Today, a team from the Icelandic Institute of Natural History finally captured the bird and removed the can. The swan is now convalescing at Reykjavík’s Fjölskyldu- og Húsdýragarðurinn Park and Zoo.
According to reports, people living close to the lake had spotted the troubled bird, but had no luck in trying to capture or assist the animal. According to Ólafur Nielsen of the Icelandic Institute of Natural History, the swan was close to death when he and his team managed to capture the bird today and swiftly remove the can. “The bird was exhausted and dying on the lake,” Ólafur says. “That’s why we were quick to capture it.”
The swan’s bruised bill has been disinfected and the bird has been moved to Fjölskyldu- og Húsdýragarðurinn Park and Zoo while it recuperates. Ólafur is hopeful that the swan will regain its former strength. “The bird was pretty stocky,” he says, adding that he’s confident the zoo will take good care of it.
Ólafur says that the swan’s case is sadly not an isolated one, with the Icelandic Institute of Natural History regularly dealing with birds that have gotten stuck in plastic or other garbage.
Fjölskyldu- og Húsdýragarðurinn Park and Zoo has already posted about the unlucky swan on their Facebook site, saying that after being tended to, the swan has already started eating and will stay at the zoo for as long as it
