A wildlife rescue has urged anglers to be careful while fishing in canals after a cygnet died and several others were injured by fishing gear.
Glenn Slaney, of Warsop Wildlife Rescue Team (WWRT), said there had been a large increase in call-outs to injured birds compared with last year along the Chesterfield Canal in Worksop, Nottinghamshire.
Fifteen call-outs were to the same family of swans, he said, and various injuries were from fishing line, hooks and nets.
Slaney said: “We just urge anybody that would like to go fishing to just be a little bit respectful of your surroundings because a lot of the issues that we face specifically with fishing lures etc, they can be avoided.”
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Slaney set up the charity rescue group in memory of his father, who had a passion for wildlife.
He has seen swans with various injuries, including a discarded fishing line that became wrapped around a bird’s beak and throat.
After the bird was rescued, the centre ensured it received urgent veterinary treatment.
But, unfortunately, the cygnet died during surgery, said Slaney.
Calls about injured swans were “devastating”, he added, and had taken their toll on the team emotionally.
“We never know what’s going to be the outcome,” said Slaney.
“We’ve been getting call after call after call to go to the same area of canal, although we have also been out to similar issues across other parts of the canal too.”