Medical staff say former Longboat Key swan killed by animal

The former Longboat Key swan thought to have been shot to death at her new pond in Sarasota was likely killed by a wild animal instead, authorities said.

Kaitlyn Perez, Sarasota County Sheriff's Office community affairs director, said in an email Tuesday evening that the necropsy conducted on the female swan showed no evidence of projectiles.  Medical staff concluded that the swan died by an animal attack.

About three years ago, the female swan and her male sibling, offspring of Longboat Key swans Stan and Wendy, were moved to Camelot Lakes, near Clark Road and Interstate 75, from Longboat Key through the Gracie Swan Foundation. The hope was they would become a mating pair, which is not unusual for swans.

The pair had made a nest across the street from Camelot Lakes on a private pond. On Sunday evening, the pair was doing well, but on Monday morning, a caretaker found the female dead and said there were holes in both sides of her neck, which resembled bullet holes.

“We were trying to protect the animals as best we could, but we can’t sit by it 24/7,” Don Wise, who helps care for the swans at Camelot Lakes said.

The pair’s nest had to be destroyed following the female swan’s death, as male swans won’t incubate eggs. Since the female’s death, the male swan has been moved to the back lake of Camelot Lakes and is bonding with the other male swan living there, Wise said.

Wise said regardless of the cause of death, the community is still hurting.

“We still feel sad, and we’re glad it wasn’t a bullet,” Wise said. “That’s what we thought it was.”