What if the swans deserted Lake Annecy?
It is the majestic symbol of Lake Annecy, but for how long? “I fear that in the coming years we will no longer see swans on the shores of Lake Annecy.” Anyone who cares knows his subject like the back of his hand. Jean-François Cuveiller is the official veterinarian for Annecy swans. As soon as one of these birds is injured or sick, he takes it to his clinic in Sillingy. On January 12, he treated a waterfowl attacked by an unleashed dog. “He was bitten on the back, his condition was serious but he was able to be saved.” In December, another swan with the same type of injury was not so lucky. At
Less algae to eat
The bites of dogs not kept on a leash (while it is an obligation, editor’s note) are proven. The veterinarian has counted five cases in two months but this is not the only danger that today weighs on the swan population of Lake Annecy. According to Jean-François Cuveiller, Lake Annecy no longer offers enough food for waterfowl. Following the drought of summer 2018, the “purity” of the lake led to a depletion of food in the water and in particular to the reduction of algae on which the swans feed.
“This modification caused the animals to look for food further along the banks, explains Jean-François Cuveiller. Birds therefore begin to graze on lawns whose composition of grasses resistant to trampling is much higher than on natural grassy areas. This change in diet has disastrous consequences. “Birds find it difficult to ingest the grass that accumulates under the tongue until it creates a kind of pocket possessing the bird’s ability to swallow. They gradually lose weight and become weaker.” The appearance of this goitre has been observed on most of the swans which evolve on Paquier and Albigny and the beaches of Sevrier and Saint Jorioz.
Two to three times fewer swans
Another consequence of this disappearance of algae in the water of Lake Annecy, the swans venturing onto the lawns become easy prey. “They are subject to more dangers including car traffic, and especially attacks by domestic dogs and foxes, which have been largely caused in the last 3 years”, explains the veterinarian. Add to that, the demographic pressure, the increase in activities on the shore and in the lake (swimming, boating), the bread thrown away by walkers and very bad for the health of the swans… the palmipede population would be in free fall.
I am sounding the alarm bell because today the renewal of the swan population on Lake Annecy is no longer guaranteed.” – Jean-François Cuveiller, veterinarian
“In 2018, there were about forty swans on Lake Annecy, I fear that today their number has been divided by two or three.” A finding confirmed by the League for the Protection of Birds. One of the members of the LPO explains that if the Lake Annecy is no longer a territory “welcoming” for the waterfowl, he leaves for more hospitable places. In the Seyssel sector, the banks of the Rhône are increasingly taken over by swans.