Baby swans feared stolen

Searches were carried out for the seven young swans

Seven cygnets which went missing are thought to have been stolen to be kept at a private lake.

Wardens at Caldicot Castle Country Park said that the baby swans disappeared a week after hatching.

They believe someone stole the cygnets in order to raise them on private waters.

It is only the second time that swans have reared young at the park and staff are upset by the loss of the cygnets.

Head warden Dennis Manning said that searches had been made of the area but no sign of the cygnets was found.

"We just don't know what happened to them," he said.

Apparently people have been known to take cygnets because it looks nice to see swans on private lakes and ponds Dennis Manning, warden

"At first we thought a mink or fox might have had them but for seven of them to disappear in the same night makes us suspect that they have been stolen."

Mr Manning and his team believe that the cygnets were taken to be hand reared on a private lake.

"Apparently people have been known to take cygnets because it looks nice to see swans on private lakes and ponds.

"They will probably be hand fed every day so they won't have to look for food themselves and then they will just stay there.

"But it is a very sad thing if that is what has happened because this is only the second time that the pair of swans which live on the pond here have had young.

"Last year, they had six cygnets which they raised with no problem.

Sad

"I feel sad for all the visitors of the park who have been watching the progress of the swans this year, building the nest, sitting on the eggs and seeing the babies.

"But now they've just disappeared and it is very sad.

"If they have been taken, I would hope that they would be returned but I doubt that is going to happen," he added.

The cygnets were taken from Caldicot Castle park. Photo of the castle taken by reader David Baker.

Members of Swan Rescue South Wales said that the male bird of the pair of Mute swans on the pond at the country park would have been very defensive with anyone who approached the young.

"He would have been fairly ferocious and very protective," said Ellen Kershaw from the rescue group.

She said that she had heard of other instances where cygnets were stolen to be raised on private ponds.

"This sort of thing has happened in the past in other areas and it seems as if this is the most logical explanation for the disappearance of seven cygnets in one night," she added.

Swans are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act (1981). It is an offence intentionally to injure, take or destroy a wild swan.