Baden-Württemberg: A stroke of fate clouds the luck of the swans in Holzgerlingen

Holzgerlingen (dpa/lsw) - The paired swans from Holzgerlingen (Boeblingen district) had sweet offspring a few days ago.

Baden-Württemberg: A stroke of fate clouds the luck of the swans in Holzgerlingen

Holzgerlingen (dpa/lsw) - The paired swans from Holzgerlingen (Boeblingen district) had sweet offspring a few days ago. But a stroke of fate clouds the great luck, because one of the two chicks was found dead on Wednesday morning, as Holzgerlingen's main office manager Jan Stäbler said. It's a shame, because the two chicks had given people a lot of joy in the past few days. Families and especially children were at Burg Kalteneck around the clock to accompany the chicks as they grew up.

The city will probably not continue to investigate the cause of the chick's death. "There will be biological reasons that, unfortunately, as an administrative expert, I can't really assess now," said Stäbler. He can rule out outside influence.

The swans became known more than a year ago through a job advertisement. In its official gazette, the municipality asked for a partner for the lonely swan Hänsel jun. sought. Gender didn't matter. According to the advertisement, however, "willingness to partner or marriage" and "no "fear of contact" with onlookers from near and far were required for the "full-time (24/7)" assignment".

In return, the city offered "cozy accommodation with a pool and a spacious castle garden" and two warm meals a day - boiled potatoes with bran in the morning and grains in the evening. "It was partly meant with a wink, of course, but also with a little seriousness, because we wished that he didn't have to swim lonely and alone here," said Stäbler.

At the time, a swan of the right age lived in the Westhausen wild bird sanctuary (Ostalbkreis) of the Nabu nature conservation association. The animal had been raised by hand, so used to humans. Almost a year ago, Hansel and his Gretel were brought together. "It was nice that it worked the way we envisioned it," said Stäbler.