Black swans at Yuanmingyuan, or the Old Summer Palace in Beijing Photo: IC

The deaths of four black swans at the two locations in Yuanmingyuan, or the Old Summer Palace in Beijing, resulted from animal bites, and human involvement has been ruled out, the management department announced on Monday following public concern on social media over their sudden deaths, and vowing to intensify patrol of stray animals. 

According to a statement released by the management department of the park on its WeChat account, it conducted a thorough investigation after public concern about the recent deaths of four black swans in Yuanmingyuan's Quyuan Fenghe and Fenglinzhou locations. 

Through on-site inspections and surveillance camera footage, as well as interviews with relevant personnel and black swan enthusiasts, the management department learned that animals like weasels and suspected stray dogs were spotted near the black swans’ nests on the nights when the four black swans died, and scattered feathers were found at the scene even though no animal fights were captured on camera.

Examination results of the deceased black swans promptly sent to a professional institution showed that all four black swans suffered bite wounds from animals which caused their deaths, and human involvement was ruled out. 

Based on a comprehensive analysis, the management department inferred that the black swans were attacked and killed by small carnivorous animals.

The park has taken targeted actions including increasing personnel and intensifying patrols at the nests of the black swans and other wildlife. 

The park also conducted multiple rounds of searches for stray dogs in collaboration with relevant professional departments, and captured and properly handled two stray dogs on Sunday. 

The park management department will continue to strengthen patrols and searches and will promptly contact professional departments for capture and proper handling once stray dogs are found. Monitoring will also continue around the nesting and gathering areas of black swans and other wildlife. 

Since the unhatched eggs left behind by the deceased swans are no longer suitable for natural incubation, they have been collected for artificial incubation under the guidance of experts. 

The park management expressed deep sorrow for the deaths of the black swans and called for local residents to practice responsible and civilized pet ownership and not to abandon pets so as to provide black swans and other wildlife with a suitable habitat. 

Global Times