TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – A black swan in Taichung’s Maple Garden underwent a six-hour surgical procedure to remove fishing lines and lures from its stomach on Sunday (Oct 27).

Taichung City Construction Bureau Director Chen Da-tian (陳大田) said the male swan was about nine months of age. It ate abandoned fishing tackle at the pond in Maple Garden. 

Park staff noticed the swan’s odd behavior, which included restlessness. There was also a red fishing line hanging from its mouth, per CNA.

Park staff trapped the swan and an X-ray revealed several foreign objects along with large amounts of fishing line in the swan's stomach. If left untreated, the condition would have been life-threatening.

After surgery the swan is now recuperating at the veterinary clinic. The swan endangered by the fishing tackle was likely born to a pair of black swans brought to Maple Garden, an urban ecological park opened to the public in 2012. 

Chen said fishing in the park was illegal and warned the public about the dangers that abandoned fishing tackle could cause to local fauna.

Swans use their long necks to feed on mollusks, frogs, fish, and aquatic vegetation below the surface. This makes them especially vulnerable to fishing tackle or garbage residing at the bottom of a pond.