Swans lay 14 eggs in Hefei’s Swan Lake

Since December 10, 14 new-laid swan eggs have gradually been found in Hefei’s Swan Lake Park in around half a month, according to the park’s wild animal breeder Chen Changmin.

The islet in the middle of Swan Lake is home to 19 black swans, the oldest of which have lived here for more than ten years. However, it is rare that they produce so many eggs intensively in such a short period of time. It all started on the morning of December 10 when Chenchangmin was cleaning the hay in swans’hut as his daily routine. When he found an egg in the hay, he collected it carefully but did not pay too much attention as it was in the breeding season of swans. But in the following days, more eggs were found one after another, and the number has added up to 14 until December 25. When Chen told the park rangers about the news, everone was cheered up.

“Usually, the number of eggs we find vary from 4 to over 10 in breeding seasons, but it often takes about a month to produce so many eggs. It is common to see days of intervals between two swans laying eggs.”said Yang Jingsong, a ranger of the Swan Lake Park.

Fang Wei, deputy director of the Landscaping Management Center of Shushan District, believes that the phenomenon was due to the favourable ecological conditions of the park, for they devote great efforts to maintain an ideal environment for swans to reside and be fed under the highest standards and strict supervision. “The swans’ staple food is rice with corn kernels. As for vegetables, we switch among cabbage, lettuce, linye, etc.to help them build a healthier and more balanced diet structure.” said Chen Changmin.

The 14 eggs will be sent to Hefei Wildlife Park for professionals to incubate. Fang Wei said that he hoped to see more swans in the Swan Lake in the future. [Photo by Zaker Hefei/Yu Junjie]

（Translated by Li Ruichuan）