Broken-Hearted Swan Looks for Love
German Zoo Officials to Reunite an Unhappy Black Swan With Her Paddle-Boat Love

By CHRISTEL KUCHARZ
PASSAU, Germany, March 27, 2008

The love affair was short-lived. Petra, the wild black swan who has become a minor celebrity, appears to be lonely after her mate, a white swan, has ditched her for another.

Black swan "Petra" welcomes her "partner", a swan-shaped pedal boat at a small lake at the Zoo in Muenster, western Germany, on Friday March...
Black swan "Petra" welcomes her "partner", a swan-shaped pedal boat at a small lake at the Zoo in Muenster, western Germany, on Friday March 9, 2007. Petra left her wintering grounds on Friday where she spent the last months with her beloved paddle boat. The swan had "fallen in love" with the giant plastic swan when she met him on a lake in downtown Muenster in summer 2006.
(AP Photo/Frank Augstein)Zoo officials in Muenster, Germany, are going to reunite the animal with what appears to be the love of her life — a white paddle boat shaped like an oversized swan.

Sound strange? Not really, when you listen to the zoo director, Joerg Adler.

"We thought she was all set, when she and her new mate, a white swan, were building a nest together," said Adler. "But then her mate decided to fly off seeking the company of other black swans. She's swimming around in an agitated state ever since he ditched her, and we got to calm her down."

What's happening now may be the end of a long story that began in spring 2006, when Petra fell head over heels for a swan-shaped paddle boat out on Lake Aasee, located near the zoo in the city of Muenster.

She would not let the boat out of her sight, and over the following months became so attached to it that she refused to mingle with other swans.

Eventually, by the end of fall, the boat had to be removed from the lake, but the boat owner did not have the heart to separate the two.

Zoo director Adler decided to let Petra stay with it, taking both bird and boat into the city's zoo for the winter.

Thank you for posting Sue.

This is a sad but also very funny story.
Let us hope that Petra will be comfortable with the company of the paddle boat until a more faithful real swan will come along.

Love, Inda

Thank you Sue.

This is a bit of a sad love story. I am happy that Petra can at least enjoy the boat for now.
Let us hope that she will know to become attached to the right real swan next time, and not be attracted to the wrong one.

Love,
Vicky

Even swans have soap-operas. I thought only humans are involved in this.

I hope the black swan will find a good mate, which would give the story a happy ending.

Gisele

Thank you Sue.
This is quite an amazing story.

May the swan enjoy the paddleboat until the right mate comes along.

Love,
yoko


Be content with the moment and be willing to follow the flow.

Chuang Tzu

http://cbs5.com/watercooler/wild.black.swan.2.280880.html


Wild Black Swan Reunites With Paddle Boat Love
(CBS News) For Petra, a wild black swan, it was love at first flight when she flew into a German swan lake last year and spotted the mate of her dreams through the woods, CBS News correspondent Mark Phillips reports.

Petra had a weakness, it seems, for the big, strong, silent type. And to a swan. what could be bigger, stronger or more silent than the plastic paddle boat she had fallen for.

They spent a happy summer together, and when winter came and the other swans flew south, Petra refused to leave.

Local zookeepers actually tried to drive the couple apart, introducing Petra to single male swans. But she wasn't interested, and the keepers gave up. They didn't want to stress her, they say.

So when the time came to take the boat out of the boathouse and put it back in the lake, the press swarmed in. Petra was there waiting. The question: Had she gotten over her love boat? Had she realized the relationship was going nowhere — that she and the boat were just too different? Or had love survived the long cold winter?

The boat was put back into its natural habitat, and towed to a quiet corner of Swan Lake, their corner.

They couldn't hold her back.