There is an interesting story in the Times today.At a bakery near a reservoir, there were some swans, and the staff started feeding the swans on discarded bread.Gradually the number of swans had increased from a handful to over a hundred!The birds fouled the lake, scared off other wildlife and came into conflict with anglers and one another.They soon became unable to fend for themselves and almost entirely dependent on the generosity of the staff at the bakery.So the birdwatchers and anglers got together and decided to ask the bakery to stop feeding the swans, hoping that the birds would fly off and a natural balance be restored.Instead, the swans started to starve.
About half the swans have flown off, but some were in moult and couldnt fly and had become so used to being fed that they started to starve.The RSPCA have stepped in to feed them proper food, and will gradually stop again once they have finished their moult, hoping that the swans will go off and find other homes, and restore balance to the reservoir.
Just another example of (very well meant) interference having unforeseen knock-on effects on wildlife and its habitat.
