CLAIMS that swans in a popular South Tyneside park are starved during the winter months have been rejected.
The Gazette was contacted by bird lover Christine Beck, who feared the flock in South Shields's South Marine Park are "slowly dying of starvation".
Mrs Beck, a regular visitor to the park, said: "I work full-time and am only able to visit the park t
wice a week.
"But when I do, I witness these poor creatures climbing over one another, and fighting for the wheat and bread that I take to feed them.
"Last Saturday the swans were so hungry they were out on the road outside the park gates, begging for food from people who were passing with cartons of chips.
"Their beaks were coated with mud, where they had been desperately rooting around on the lawned area trying to find something edible."
Mrs Beck, from Whickham, Gateshead, claimed there was no natural food in the lake to enable the swans and ducks to survive independently.
After similar concerns were raised by another person, park staff contacted the Wildfowl and Wetland Trust (WWT) at Washington for an expert opinion.
A Trust spokesman said: "Without seeing the birds, I would have to say that food must be an issue on the ponds, and the birds probably do rely on the public to supplement their diet.
"Given that this will be irregular, I expect that at some times the birds will be hungrier than others and respond very enthusiastically when a member of the public arrives with a bag of bread.
"This would give the impression of starvation, ie very hungry – as opposed to genuine starvation. As the birds can fly, I would expect them to disperse to find food if they were genuinely starving."
A volunteer animal protection representative also visits the park most days to check on the health of the swans.
By PAUL MYLES-KELLYpaul.myles-kelly@northeast-press.co.uk