The tragic incident is understood to have happened between 12.30pm and 1.30pm on Sunday, January 4, 2026.

Charity, Friends of Queens Park Glasgow, announced the baby swan’s passing with “great sadness” and made a plea to park users to help to protect the birds in the icy weather.

The deceased cygnet is the one in the left foreground of this photo taken on Saturday. This family group are the first family to arrive at QP in the autumn. They arrived on 8th Oct 2025. (Image: Facebook/Friends of Queens Park Glasgow)

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The charity believes that the cygnet could have died from an “impact” when attempting to land on the ice in an emotional call for more information.

Friends of Queens Park Glasgow posted the statement on social media, which said: “It is with great sadness that we report one of the juvenile cygnets died yesterday in the park.

“Its death illustrates how vulnerable our lovely wildlife is at this harsh time of year.

“We think it died from an impact when making an awkward slippy landing on the ice when it, along with its family, decided to fly to the boatshed end of the pond – their favourite territorial hang out – which was fully iced over on both water and pathway.

“We have reported the death to the park rangers, and to DEFRA because the swan will have to be checked for avian flu. Its injury and death took place sometime between 12:30 and 13:30 on Sunday 4th January.

“If you saw anything happen or the bird in distress please let us know the details as it will help construct a better picture.”

The reduced family group on the same patch of pond, now frozen, on Sunday afternoon after the fatality. (Image: Facebook/Friends of Queens Park Glasgow)

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The charity included advice in a plea to the public to do what they can to help protect the beautiful birds.

Their guidance includes reducing stress on the birds by keeping dogs on leads and giving the swans space.

They’ve also listed “good” foods that can be a boost and “bad” foods, including white bread, that can be fatal if ingested by the birds.

In addition to the advice, they said that: “Yesterday we cleared away clumps of raw chopped liver that had been thrown onto the ice.”

And added: “The birds will not eat this sort of food, but pet dogs and rats will.”

The charity continued by saying they are part of Glasgow’s swan aunty network and said: “If you have any concerns about the swans in QP please message us on fb with details – and send a photo or film clip if possible – and we’ll seek expert advice and/or assistance from those in the network.”

You can find the charity’s Facebook profile here.