Swan narrowly avoids death at Cambridge University

John the Swan must have been counting his days when he realised he had been trapped at St John’s College Cambridge.

The College is one of the few locations in the United Kingdom where reportedly a swan could be eaten by the fellows of the institution. This privilege often only reserved for the Royal Family has been extended to the 511-year-old college but thankfully for John, it was not an option taken up when he got trapped.

Stuck in a drainpipe and spotted by students in the Old Library as they were working, the fire brigade and RSPCA came swiftly to John’s rescue. The crew attempted the operation from above and below with one firefighter on the ground and three attempting to reach the Swan via the loft.

“It is easier to get a swan back in the river where it belongs than getting a cow out of the river where it doesn’t belong.”

–Sam Cornwell

Once they had managed to get to John he was placed in a ‘swan bag’ and was slowly and safely lowered to the ground with a pulley system. Once he had been checked by the RSPCA, he was returned to the River Cam and I’m sure attempted to recover from a traumatic day.

Sam Cornwell, a local firefighter evaluated the rescue saying “Animals are unpredictable which means that rescuing them can be challenging but this one went very smoothly. It is easier to get a swan back in the river where it belongs than getting a cow out of the river where it doesn’t belong!”

This was added to by Naomi Sadoff who is an Animal Rescue officer for the local RSPCA. She added that “He looked in excellent health considering his adventure and his wings looked fine.”

This follows on from other Swan issues affecting the university with a violent swan named ‘Mr Asbo’ becoming infamous for a series of attacks on unsuspecting rowers before being moved away from the city.