Singapore

05 June 2009

The battle of the Black Swans

If you remember some time ago I wrote about the struggle the people around the lake of Thun in Switzerland had to save their beloved Paddle Steamer, a struggle that lasted for 17 years and was won by the people over the owners of the ship that wanted it destroyed. Today the proud ship is back in service.

Well here we go again. In the late 1980s a couple of black swans appeared on the lake of Thun. They are native to Australia and are quite different from the white Swiss swans plentiful on the lake. The people took to these swans with gusto and took them into their hearts. Over the years, they have multiplied and had to be culled. No one complained, the culling was understandable and accepted.

Recently however, some boffins in the administration decided the black swans had to go as they are not native to the area. Well, now, here we go again. Numerous letters of outrage to the editors in newspapers  have appeared. A lot of letter call it racism!

"Black people are accepted in Switzerland, why not black swans" some wrote...

They are beautiful Australians, aren't they?






The question is: Will the black swans be allowed to stay? I'll keep you posted!

10 comments:

  1. Black is beautiful! Ig finges o blöd, dassme die schöne schwarze Schwän wott furtha...das isch scho richtig rassistisch vo dene Thuner! Das gseht doch guet us, uf däm Bild, so schwarz-wyssi Schwän wo friedlech zäme ufem See schwümme...Grüessli us dr Schwyz Marianne

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  2. The black swans are allowed to stay, but with some restricions.
    Tomorrow a demonstration will be held in Thun in favor of the australian swan.
    And there is a new supporting association the "Thunersee-Schwanensee" as the new owner of this black swans.

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  3. BB
    Of course the Black Swans should stay. Maybe in years to come the Swiss lakes may have "spotted" swans - now that would be a sight to see.
    I look forward to further information on the "Swan Saga" of the Swiss lakes.
    HB

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  4. So vil I gläse ha Marianne isch das ender dr Kanton als d'Thuner wo die schwarzw Schwän wei los wärde. Schad das I nid cha a die Demonstration ga morn. Grüss, Bill

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  5. As long as they don't interfere with the natural fauna and flora of the area they should be allowed to stay. Diane

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  6. LET THEM STAY...LET THEM STAY! LOL ... racism. Some people just cannot find enough to complain about. Let the swans stay.

    P.S. Go ahead and copy that list and post it. That's how I got it...from some other blog and thought it would be fun. Consider it a challenge from me. :)

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  7. Yeah let them stay! You can't judge a bird by the colour of his feathers!

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  8. Thank you for stopping by my blog, I'm glad you enjoyed it :) The flowers are Schneegloeckchen, yes - but we didn't have much snow this winter, so all of it was already gone by the time the Schneegloeckchen bloomed.

    I think that there are worse introduced species to be worried about than Black Swans, red eared slider turtles or Chinese mitten crabs - those are really destructive. But then they are not that easy to see and a lot harder to get rid of than a few swans. I love the picture of the black and white swans :)

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  9. The whities are there in the water so why not the blackies. They do look lovely.

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  10. Hooray Bill I got the comment about the swans without messing around.....so easy!

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