If you’re headed to Bluffer’s Park in Scarborough this weekend, you won’t see any baby swans – and you can blame the people you’ve seen feeding them bread!
The swan family that neighbours have watched grow over the past few months has been separated.
The adults – 717 and Y37 – known locally as “Charlotte” and “Mango” hatched five cygnets in the spring but only two survived. Those two were removed this week when it was noticed they had developed “Angel Wing.”
Left untreated, the swans won’t be able to fly.
What causes angel wing? Humans. More accurately, humans feeding them bread.
Nathalie Karvonen is the Executive Director of the Toronto Wildlife Centre. She tells 680 News Radio, well-meaning people are actually endangering the lives of the wild animals.
“Swans can potentially fill up on something like bread which is not only bad for them, but it also means they’re also not eating something that’s good for them. They’re filling up on something that’s not nutritious.”
Without a proper diet, the cygnet’s wings can’t properly develop. They’ve been relocated to Shades of Hope Wildlife Refuge where the hope is their wings can be fixed and they can be released in a controlled environment.
The now orphaned birds won’t be able to return to the wild since they’ll be growing up without the guidance of their parents and aren’t learning how to be swans.
The city of Toronto updated its animal feeding bylaw in the spring. It specifies that “you are not allowed to feed wildlife or leave food out to attract animals on both public and private property. Feeding songbirds on your property is permitted providing your bird feeder is kept in a sanitary condition and does not act as an attractant to other wildlife.”
A spokesperson for the city tells 680 News Radio the focus is on education rather than enforcement.
There are signs posted throughout Bluffer’s Park but people continue to feed the waterfowl.
Karvonen supports more education but also thinks it’s time to start laying fines.
“You can’t even park your car in places in Toronto five minutes past the time you’ve parked it without getting a parking ticket so I don’t understand personally why we need to let people off the hook who are actually resulting in harm coming to animals. I would be supportive of more education but also charging people with fines as well.”