{"id":554821,"date":"2026-04-28T09:52:16","date_gmt":"2026-04-28T09:52:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/554821\/"},"modified":"2026-04-28T09:52:16","modified_gmt":"2026-04-28T09:52:16","slug":"reading-mouldy-bread-in-river-thames-blamed-for-pink-swans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/554821\/","title":{"rendered":"Reading: Mouldy bread in River Thames blamed for pink swans"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\n  Caversham Wildlife Rescue and Support (CWRS), based in Reading, is urging the public to stop throwing mouldy bread into rivers after swans began to show signs of &#8220;Pink Feather Syndrome.&#8221;\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  The condition is caused by a fungus called Chrysonilia sitophila, which grows on decaying mouldy bread in the water and affects birds that eat it.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  Graham Neale, a member of the charity, said: &#8220;When it goes into the swans it turns them pink.&#8221;\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  It causes feathers to become brittle and waterlogged, which can impact the swans&#8217; ability to float.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  More:<a href=\"https:\/\/www.readingchronicle.co.uk\/news\/26057175.prominent-building-rising-two-six-storeys-14-flats-shops\/?ref=ed_latest\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Prominent building to rising from two to six storeys with 14 flats and shops<\/a>\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  <img   width=\"100%\"\/>Swans with mouldy bread (Image: Caversham Wildlife Rescue and Support)\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  The syndrome can lead to hypothermia and in severe cases, death.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  CWRS has placed signs along Thames Promenade warning people of the dangers.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  The charity contacted Thames Valley Police, but was advised to report the issue to environmental authorities.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  It has since notified the Environment Agency and Reading Borough Council.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  <img   width=\"100%\"\/>Mouldy food found in river (Image: Caversham Wildlife Rescue and Support)\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  Lauren Ayres, 34, who also works with the group, said: &#8220;It would be nice to have a bit more information out there on how to support the river because it is a home.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  &#8220;It is our duty as residents to help look after it.&#8221;\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  More:<a href=\"https:\/\/www.readingchronicle.co.uk\/news\/26056946.total-closure-m4-coming-horror-24-hours-crashes\/?ref=ed_latest\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">TOTAL closure of M4 coming after horror 24 hours of crashes<\/a>\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  As part of a broader appeal for people to take greater care around wildlife, Mr Neale also shared that on the morning of Monday 27 he found the body of a baby goose that looked like it might have been run over by a bike.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  He said: &#8220;Normally they all come running because they know I have their breakfast for them.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  &#8220;It had just gotten its flying feathers in.&#8221;\u00a0\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  CWRS was established six months ago and is sponsored by Bridges Estate Agents.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  <img   width=\"100%\"\/>Mouldy food found in the river (Image: Caversham Wildlife Rescue and Support)\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  The group partners with Swan Lifeline, a charity specialising in the treatment and care of swans.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  Both Mr Neale and Ms Ayres thanked the Caversham community for their ongoing support.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  An Amazon Wishlist set up by the charity has enabled residents to donate towards essential supplies, including better feed and equipment for swan care.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  Mr Neale said: &#8220;They have helped us to grow and to save more animals.&#8221;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Caversham Wildlife Rescue and Support (CWRS), based in Reading, is urging the public to stop throwing mouldy bread&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":554822,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[90,56,54,55,4407],"class_list":["post-554821","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wildlife","tag-science","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom","tag-wildlife"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/554821","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=554821"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/554821\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/554822"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=554821"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=554821"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=554821"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}