ANIMAL rescue teams were dispatched to rescue a family of swans before they succumbed to a severe parasite.

Crews from The Swan Sanctuary, East Sussex Wildlife Rescue and Ambulance Service (WRAS) and Eastbourne Borough Council rescued four cygnets from Decoy Pond in Eastbourne’s Hampden Park on Monday.

A cygnet had been previously found dead at the pond, with its post mortem revealing it weighed just half its expected weight due to a severe parasite burden.

Kathy Martyn , WRAS volunteer, said: “We took our walk-on-scales down to the park to check the weight of the rest of the cygnets, hoping that the one which had died was a runt and more susceptible to illness.

“Luckily mum, dad and three cygnets were on the grass, so we managed to catch two of them easily and weigh them. These two were checked over back at our ambulance and discovered to be about 3.9kg and 3.2kg which is quite a bit lower than expected.”

Using an inflatable boat WRAS founder Trevor Weeks went onto the lake to try and find the remaining two cygnets. He said: “These last two cygnets were very worrying and clearly not very strong.

After seeking advice from the Swan Sanctuary it was decided to take them up to their hospital urgently.

“We were hoping to bring both parents in to be with the cygnets but mum was proving difficult to catch.

“Dad was in good condition so it was decided to release him back with his partner.”

The cygnets will be cared for at Swan Sanctuary, Shepperton.