Harry the swan, a long time resident of Mundy Pond and the last of the capital city’s municipal swans, is reportedly doing well in his new digs at Hope for Wildlife in Nova Scotia.
Swans pair for life, and when Harry’s mate died two years ago there were concerns about his safety and well being.
Paired swans are very protective of each other and take turns sleeping, with one keeping an eye out for predators while the other sleeps. According to Karen Gosse of The Rock Wildlife Rescue losing his mate caused a major disruption in the 15 year old swan’s routine.
Harry and his mate at Mundy Pond (Greg Noseworthy)
She says they were left with a limited number of options for Harry, after ruling out euthanasia. She says one of the things they considered was bringing in a new mate.
“But Harry is 15, so bringing in a younger swan would just repeat the cycle when we lost Harry. Really at this point…this is the end of the swan program here, so that really wasn’t an option.”
“The other was to find a swan sanctuary, so when we were taking Harry for the winter…we then started discussions on what if we could find him a permanent home where he didn’t have to be relocated in the winter?”
Seeing Harry off at the airport (submitted)
Gosse says she spoke with Hope Swinimer of Hope for Wildlife in Nova Scotia, and she indicated that they would be willing to take him.
She says he now has a space that includes his own pond and a warm shelter where he is safe from predators.
