Rare black swan killed in kaliningrad zoo

A rare black Australian swan was beaten to death in a zoo in Kaliningrad, Russia’s exclave on the Baltic Sea, the zoo’s deputy director said on Thursday. “The black swan was stoned or kicked, judging by the bird’s injuries,” Boris Paramanov said adding that the staff had not seen the incident occurring. According to him, a visitor could have thrown stones at the bird to make him fly or climbed the low fence and kicked him. “Unfortunately, such incidents happened in the zoo before. And we are always very reluctant to report them to the press because it may encourage others to do the same. This is our society,” Paramonov said. The zoo currently has five black swans which were brought to Kaliningrad in 2009. The black swan is common in southern, western and eastern Australia.