Protected swans being eaten?
Limerick Animal Welfare Officers and Gardai are said to be investigating claims that swans on the shannon are being captured to be eaten, reports the Limerick Chronicle.
Eastern European imigrants are being blamed for the dissappearance of the swans, which are are a protected species in Ireland. Swan meat is a delecacy in Eastern Europe.
Individuals are reported to be using fishing rods with bread attached to them as bait, to capture them.
This is not the first time that water fowl have become the victims of anti-social behaviour in Limerick. In July, a possible wipe out of ducks in Adare was blamed on hungry Eastern Europeans also, and in November 2004, members of the criminal fraternity were reported to have been using Limerick City’s swans as target practice.