A New York village is mourning the loss of its beloved swan after it was killed and eaten by some teenagers.
The swan was reported missing Monday from a pond in Manlius, a southeast suburb of Syracuse, along with its four babies. While the cygnets were recovered days after they went missing, authorities learned the mother swan, named Faye, was killed and eaten.
“The mother swan was consumed,” Manlius Mayor Paul Whorrall said at a news conference Wednesday, reported Bennington Banner. “Sad to say, but that’s what they did.”
Three teenagers were taken into custody in connection with the mother swan’s killing. They reportedly jumped a fence overnight during the Memorial Day weekend and killed Faye at the pond while she was nesting with her kids. Later, their family and friends consumed the swan, Manlius Sgt. Ken Hatter said at the media briefing.
“They brought it back to an aunt’s house and the aunt prepared it,” Hatter added.
Police arraigned and released an 18-year-old suspect on personal recognizance. The other two suspects, a 16-year-old and a 17-year-old, were also released to their parents as they were juveniles. The identities of the suspects were not revealed.
All three were charged with grand larceny in the third degree, criminal mischief in the second degree, conspiracy in the fifth degree and criminal trespass in the third degree, a class A misdemeanor, WHEC reported.
The teens assumed the swan was “just a very large duck.” They did not realize it was not a wild animal.
“They were hunting, is what they told us,” Hatter said, CNY Central reported. “They did not know that it was a swan, and they did not know that it was not a wild animal, that it was actually owned by the Village of Manlius.”
Investigators found two cygnets at Shop City Plaza in the town of Salina following tips from local residents. The other two cygnets were recovered from a home in Syracuse. They have been handed over to a biologist. The teens told police they wanted to raise the baby swans, which were about four weeks old.
“I asked them specifically, the two juveniles, what they were going to do with the cygnets if they wanted to raise them ‘Were you going to raise them to later consume them?’ And they said, ‘No, we wanted to raise them,” the sergeant added.
Faye’s mate, named Manny, was found safe. Officials will remove the male swan from the pond as it could become violent.
“We will probably remove Manny because of the significance that they do mate forever and losing Faye, Manny can become combative,” Whorrall said. “We care for them, maintain them, feed them, do everything and stuff. They’ve been ours forever. And we will continue. The public needs to know that this is not ending. We will continue to have swans and hopefully, at some point get back to normal.”
Authorities are planning to install cameras around the swan pond to ensure the birds’ safety.
“We’re going to do what we can to protect these swans, we always have,” Whorrall added.
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