Stan the swan is recovering from illness

Adult male swan Stan is recovering after unofficial swan keeper David Novak discovered that he was ill last week.

On July 11, Novak noticed that Stan was no longer at daily feedings with his mate, Wendy, and their five cygnets, and later found Stan in distress.

He had lost the use of his legs, but his neck was erect, indicating that the cause of his illness wasn’t the fatal avian botulism that killed swan family matriarch Gracie in 2007 and took the life of Pippa earlier this year.

Stan is currently receiving treatment in Wimauma from former Save Our Seabirds Executive Director Lee Fox to avoid serious internal infection.

“As of Monday, he is improving slowly, but remains in danger. The expectation, assuming all goes well, is that he could return to his family in a week or so,” Novak wrote in an email.

For more information, pick up a July 24 copy of the Longboat Observer.

Contact Robin Hartill at [email protected].