First Black Swan Baby Born at Xianghu Lake
This year, the first black swan baby was born at Xianghu Lake. It has a fluffy round head and two small black little feet, ‘honking and honking’ can’t stand up, it’s simply adorable.
On March 9th, the fourth day that the little swans were sent into infrared warming boxes. The swan mother has been silently staying outside the warming box, unwilling to leave.
Korean businessman Han Jinxun, who has been raising swans for many years, said that the swan mother is unwilling to separate and will wait for a week before the little swans return to her side.
Sometimes it takes years to hatch one.
Black swans are even more precious at Xianghu Lake.
In 2007, Xianghu Lake first introduced 10 swans, 2 black swans and 8 white swans.
Before the introduction, they did their homework, and that’s why they were matched like this, because black swans are native birds and will settle in Xianghu Lake, laying eggs generation after generation, which can reduce the introduction, while white swans are migratory birds, they go to the north to escape the summer and come to the south to warm up in winter, so they introduce more.
Manager of Xianghu Lake swans, Han Jinxun, said that after the introduction, a small shed was built on the first phase of Xianghu Lake Island, trees were planted, and the natural environment for swans’ growth became the current swan pool.
Black swans adapt well here, laying a nest of five or six eggs every two weeks. White swans, however, have some physiological disorders and haven’t laid eggs or migrated.
Not every egg can hatch into a little swan. Han Jinxun said that only male black swans and female black swans hatch eggs, black swans will sit on the eggs in the wild, collecting some grass and building temporary nests, and they will not leave until the end.
‘The incubation period is generally 35 days. Here, we use natural incubation methods, and the output of little swans is sometimes two in a year, sometimes one in several years, which is very precious.’
Black swans can be incubated all year round, and the best incubation season is in spring. Han Jinxun said that warm spring is conducive to the growth of little swans. Swans generally live for seven or eight years, and Han Jinxun doesn't quite remember how many generations the black swans have reproduced. ‘One generation follows another, I feel it’s from the great-great-grandparent generation.’
Little swans were sent into a warming box.
The swan mother waited outside and refused to leave.
The newly hatched little black swan was trembling with its small body. To keep it warm, Han Jinxun immediately sent it into the infrared warming box. On the way, the swan mother kept following behind.
When it was sent into the warming box, the swan mother excitedly called out to Han Jinxun, and its body kept turning, worried that the little swan would suffer.
The little swan spent its days in the warming box, and the swan mother kept watching it outside the box, unable to drive it away.
‘Swans are very spiritual and will not leave the next generation for a minute, they will always stay by their side.’
Han Jinxun said that this is what every swan mother experiences – the pain of separation. Newborn little swans are too weak and need to be sent into warming boxes and taken care of by specialists. After one week, they can return to their mothers.
After the little swan returned to its mother, ‘the swan mother will find a sunny day to encourage the little swan to learn to walk, it’s like pushing it, and it will also demonstrate beside it.’
Little swans grow up quickly. ‘Swans are foodies, little swans can eat half a jin to one jin of feed within a month, and adult swans eat two or three jin of feed at a time.’ The little swan weighed less than three jin when it was born, and after half a month, it weighed two or three jin, and after a month, it weighed four or five jin.
Currently, there is one white swan and four black swans in the Xianghu Lake swan pool, and one of them is the newly born black swan baby. There are also five wild geese.
If you see little swans at Xianghu Lake, please try not to disturb them and don’t feed them, let the little swan baby grow up healthy and happy.
(Original title: ‘First black swan baby born at Xianghu Lake’, reporter Zhang Ran, correspondent Sun Lijuang, Liang Yeqi. Editor: Wang Jia)
