Man allegedly jumps from boat and grabs black swan from water in Mandurah over Australia Day weekend

The RSPCA is investigating a “disturbing’” incident where a man is alleged to have dragged a black swan out of waters by its feet before holding it above his head over the Australia Day long weekend. In a video shared to Instagram, a man can be seen diving into the Mandurah estuary off a boat before he grabs a black swan, a bird that is so synonymous with WA as the State’s emblem. Images obtained of the incident, which was reportedly posted online on Saturday afternoon, show a man getting hold of the animal by its feet as it tries to get away. He then holds it above his head as others on the boat watch on. WA Seabird Rescue — a not-for-profit rescue group — were alerted to the incident before the matter was reported to the RSPCA. Rescue volunteer Rachel Olsen said black swans were known to approach boats trying to get food. “Here in the Mandurah estuary, we do have a large population of black swans, and they are very humanised, so unfortunately, people feed them, which means they often come up to the boat,” she said. “Two swans had approached the boat, and one of the blokes jumped from the boat onto the swan. “The swan tried to get away, he picked it up by the legs and held it above his head, and all his friends cheered.” Ms Olsen said the video was “distressing” considering volunteers were trying to help the animals daily. “He let it go, thankfully, but, it’s a pretty easy way to damage a swan — there is no reason to be interfering with them like that,” she said. “We invest a lot of time and energy to try and do what we can for our native wildlife, and it is distressing that we do see huge increases in these types of behaviours over school holidays and public holidays. Ms Olsen said anybody in waterways is urged to not feed birds and to ensure they keep their distance. “In summer, we also get huge numbers of (fishing line) entanglements, which is probably our biggest call out,” she said. “Sometimes it’s someone mistakenly hooking a bird, but often we see people purposely casting towards a bird, whether that’s because the bird is fishing or just because they think it would be funny to hook a bird.” “We had four black swans that were hooked and entangled in one week over Christmas.” The RSPCA said it was investigating the allegations. “RSPCA WA had received a report about an alleged incident involving a swan on the Mandurah estuary and is investigating,” a spokesperson said.