{"id":1184875,"date":"2026-09-03T22:08:21","date_gmt":"2026-09-03T22:08:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1184875\/"},"modified":"2026-09-03T22:08:21","modified_gmt":"2026-09-03T22:08:21","slug":"black-swan-guards-injured-mate-for-days-on-highway-median-as-countless-cars-pass-by","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1184875\/","title":{"rendered":"Black Swan Guards Injured Mate For Days On Highway Median As Countless Cars Pass By"},"content":{"rendered":"

As the founder of B.I.R.D.S.<\/a>, a volunteer animal rescue service based in Melbourne, Australia, Sonja Olsen is uniquely equipped to help feathered friends in need. When the rescuer recently learned about two large birds cowering on a highway median, she knew she had to act.<\/p>\n

Upon arrival, Olsen found the black swans in the center of a busy five-lane road. Olsen noticed that one swan appeared injured. The other was likely her mate, refusing to leave her behind. The rescuer assumed the birds had been traveling from a lake on one side of the highway when one of them mistakenly collided with a car and ended up trapped in the center of the road.<\/p>\n

\"blackB.I.R.D.S.<\/p>\n

Since the birds were a bonded pair, Olsen knew she\u2019d have to keep them together. She blanketed the injured female bird easily and moved her into her car with the help of a good-hearted passerby. Now, they just had to catch her mate.<\/p>\n

Aided by the passerby and another kind driver, Olsen managed to stop oncoming traffic and corner the male swan behind a car. She swiftly grabbed him and brought him to his partner in the back of her station wagon.<\/p>\n

\"blackB.I.R.D.S.<\/p>\n

Olsen contacted a friend at Wild Days Wildlife Shelter<\/a>, who agreed to assess the birds\u2019 injuries. The animal expert found that the female bird suffered mainly from a concussion and dehydration, and after three days in care, she was ready to return home to the wild.<\/p>\n

The rescuers released the birds back into a wetland lake and watched them paddle off into the distance.<\/p>\n

According to Olsen, animal rescues are rarely easy, and often end in tragedy. Seeing such a positive result, the rescuer felt elated.<\/p>\n

\u201c[During] so many rescues \u2026 the animals can\u2019t be saved,\u201d Olsen told The Dodo. \u201cHaving one with a happy ending makes the heartache all worthwhile.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Woman<\/a>Woman On A Walk Receives An Unexpected And Beautiful Gift From Two Swans\u201cIt was just what I needed.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As the founder of B.I.R.D.S., a volunteer animal rescue service based in Melbourne, Australia, Sonja Olsen is uniquely…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1184876,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[3847],"tags":[1718,1716,728,26087,70,1715,20062,1713,16,15,1717],"class_list":["post-1184875","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wildlife","tag-animal-encounters","tag-daily-dodo","tag-environment","tag-maeve-dunigan","tag-science","tag-standard","tag-swan","tag-the-dodo","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-wildlife"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/117209396242684492","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1184875","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1184875"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1184875\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1184876"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1184875"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1184875"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1184875"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}