South West wildlife carers are looking for an army of volunteers to help manage a looming cygnet crisis

While the fluffy grey cygnets following their parents around on the Vasse River may look picturesque, wildlife rescuers are sounding alarm bells as a crisis rapidly approaches.

South West wildlife rescue group FAWNA is urgently calling for volunteers to join its Save A Swan team as irregular weather looks to send cygnets into crisis.

Every year the SAS team rescue baby swans from South West waterways as irregular weather throws off their parents’ breeding cycles, leaving hundreds of cygnets abandoned.

FAWNA president Suzanne Strapp said last year the team assembled to rescue 199 cygnets across the region, though some years they had saved up to 400.

With the weather already taking a turn, the sight of recently hatched swans is a worrying sight for Mrs Strapp, as there is little chance they will be prepared to fly before the peak of summer.

She said the Vasse-Wonnerup wetlands and others across the South West were drying up before black swan cygnets could fledge, with parents leaving their young behind as the water turned rancid.

“They have to leave their young behind because they run out of food and drinking water, and the water that is left becomes quite rancid and can contain diseases like botulism,” she said.

“So, when the parents fly off, the unfledged swans are left behind and then march out of the wetlands, often in the direction of the sea.”

Mrs Strapp said the cygnets would head to sea and join other unfledged birds, but with nothing to eat or drink they needed to be rescued or they would perish.

“Last year we developed a community response called FAWNA Save A Swan, Who Cares Wins, and assembled a great team of volunteers,” she said.

“When we get a call we load it up on to a special emergency app that goes out to all the vehicle operators who can go out and rescue a swan, or swans — sometimes we’ve had as many as 13 in a group needing help.

“FAWNA rescues these animals and takes them to a place where we can feed them until they are ready to fly, then we transport them to the Leschenault inlet, which is usually where their parents have gone.”

The group needs vehicle operators able to head into the ocean on a motorised boat to catch stranded cygnets, and with this summer already gearing up to be a scorcher, Mrs Strapp hopes to get as many community members on board as possible.

“We absolutely have to rely on the community for help during this particularly hot period,” she said.

“We’re going to need as much help as we can get.

“We really want this to be a community response to the emerging wildlife emergency and show we can all be a part of something to make big difference right across the South West.”

Those interested in joining FAWNA SAS should email fawna.inc@gmail.com.