Page 13 - IAV Digital Magazine #510

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Sick Swan Takes A Subway Ride To Wildlife Center In New York
By Ben Hooper
Nov. 11 (UPI) -- A woman taking a walk through a wildlife refuge in New York City ended up taking a sick swan for a 23-mile journey on foot, by car and on the sub- way.
Ariel Cordova- Rojas said she rode her bike to the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge in Queens, where she went for a walk to do some bird watching.
Cordova-Rojas, who spent five years as an ani- mal care manager at the Wild Bird Fund rehabilita- tion center in Manhattan, quick- ly noticed that a swan she spotted sitting by itself near the shore was acting strangely.
"It seemed odd, but swans can be solitary. As I got closer, she stayed stationary. They're usually aggres- sive and territori- al, you can't get
close without them trying to attack and I knew something was wrong," Cordova- Rojas told WPIX- TV.
Cordova-Rojas said she was unable to reach any wildlife res- cuers who would be able to come out to meet her, so she ended up
using her jacket to pick up the swan and carry the 17-pound bird about a mile back to where she had parked her bicy- cle.
A couple walking through the refuge offered to drive her to the nearest subway station, and they summoned a
friend to help transport her bike to the station.
Cordova-Rojas ended up riding the subway with the swan on the seat next to her.
"Meanwhile, there's a few peo- ple on the train and nobody seems to be fazed," she
recalled to The New York Times.
Tristan Higginbotham, an animal care man- ager at the Wild Bird Fund, met Cordova-Rojas at the Nostrand Avenue station in Brooklyn and drove her and the bird the rest of the way to the Wild Bird Fund's
facility.
Wild Bird Fund officials said the swan appears to be suffering from lead poisoning, likely from swal- lowing the weight from a fishing line. The bird is undergoing treat- ment and will like- ly be released in a few weeks, offi- cials said.
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