{"id":132788,"date":"2026-01-26T23:28:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-26T23:28:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/132788\/"},"modified":"2026-01-26T23:28:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-26T23:28:08","slug":"dyer-promises-comprehensive-city-review-over-care-of-lake-eola-swans-orlando-sentinel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/132788\/","title":{"rendered":"Dyer promises \u2018comprehensive\u2019 city review over care of Lake Eola swans \u2013 Orlando Sentinel"},"content":{"rendered":"

Faced with a flock of petitioners<\/a> slamming \u201cdeplorable\u201d conditions for Orlando\u2019s prized Lake Eola swans, Mayor Buddy Dyer promised that city leaders will listen.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re going to take a comprehensive look at everything that goes on,\u201d Dyer said at Monday\u2019s City Council meeting. \u201cWe want to do the right things by the swans and we need to evaluate exactly what that might be.\u201d<\/p>\n

Over the past month, as an avian flu outbreak at the city\u2019s signature park has killed 37 birds \u2013 including 29 swans, 25 of which were city property \u2013 a petition gained steam highlighting what advocates consider shortfalls in their care beyond the virus.<\/p>\n

Specifically, advocates have called for either a staff avian expert or more frequent consultation with an outside one, as well as the creation of an advisory board and more thorough trash pickup at the lake.<\/p>\n

They also called for better cleaning of feeders and spreading them out around the park, along with more areas for baby birds to get out of the water, where a high seawall keeps cygnets from reaching the shore.<\/p>\n

\u201cTheir food, safety, medical care and survival are entirely dependent on city decisions and human care,\u201d said Andrew Marshall, a longtime volunteer caretaker of the flock. Marshall was one of a half a dozen advocates to address the City Council.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you, the city, chooses to keep these swans, you must also ensure better care and accountability,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\"AndrewAndrew Marshall speaks during a press conference outside Orlando City Hall to call for changes to how the city cares for its iconic swans in Lake Eola Park, on Monday, January 26, 2026. (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda\/ Orlando Sentinel)<\/p>\n

Most of the swans at the park are owned by the city, though a few wild birds have also moved in over the years.<\/p>\n

Marshall said about 30 swans died at the lake last year from causes unrelated to the avian flu, and another 13 were unaccounted for at the annual swan round up \u2013 where the birds are vaccinated, have their wings clipped as required by Florida law and checked by veterinarians.<\/p>\n

Rosina McVicker, who said she worked in animal rehabilitation for 20 years, said the conditions at the lake \u201cwere deplorable.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe mortality rates are also appalling,\u201d she said. \u201cTraditionally, captive wildlife live longer than those in the wild \u2026 to see the reverse happen here is distressing.\u201d<\/p>\n

City Commissioner Patty Sheehan, whose district includes the park, said the city intends to take input as it reviews the program.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe at the City of Orlando parks department will take input and make necessary improvements to the program to benefit the swans at Lake Eola Park,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Faced with a flock of petitioners slamming \u201cdeplorable\u201d conditions for Orlando\u2019s prized Lake Eola swans, Mayor Buddy Dyer…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":132789,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[1563,28,114,266,115,1335,139,141,140,109],"class_list":{"0":"post-132788","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-orlando","8":"tag-environment","9":"tag-florida","10":"tag-latest-headlines","11":"tag-local-news","12":"tag-news","13":"tag-orange-county","14":"tag-orlando","15":"tag-orlando-headlines","16":"tag-orlando-news","17":"tag-social"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132788","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=132788"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132788\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/132789"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=132788"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=132788"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=132788"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}