Last white swan removed from Virginia Lake

The swans at Virginia Lake were semi-feral. Photo / Paul Brooks

If you’re a regular visitor to Rotokawau Virginia Lake, you may notice the absence of the previously resident white swans.

The last white swan remaining at the lake – a female – was removed yesterday and will be rehomed at Mangahuia Wetlands in Rangiwahia, northern Manawatū, according to Whanganui District Council.

“With white swan numbers at the lake declining over time due to natural attrition, and because these birds also pair for life, we’ve chosen to rehome the last swan for its own welfare and wellbeing,” council general manager - community property and places, Sarah O’Hagan, said.

Michael Bourke, a Queen’s Service Medal recipient in 2021 for services to wildlife conservation, has unpaired male swans at the wetlands reserve on his family’s farm at Rangiwahia, and will introduce the female with the hope that it pairs up and can mate.

In time, Bourke intends to gift a new pair of white swans back to Rotokawau Virginia Lake with the hope they will establish a new population.

The white swans, also referred to as mute swans (Cygnus olor) and in te reo, wāna – that used to live at Rotokawau Virginia Lake were semi-feral and originated from captive birds gifted by the Virginia Lake Trust in the late 1990s.