Several birds have been left dead or injured after a series of attacks along a Welsh canal. Police say they have been called to a number of incidents, mainly involving swans, in the past three to four years on the Neath Canal, which runs from Glynneath to Melincryddan. Animal protection charity RSPCA has described the incidents as “shocking”. A volunteer with Swan Rescue Wales who has helped the swans in some of the incidents has described the graphic reality of the attacks on these birds. Vanessa Price, from Swan Rescue Wales has said these incidents go back to October 13, 2021, when a cygnet (a young swan) was brutally killed after a brick was thrown on it from a bridge, breaking its back and causing it to drown. Vanessa said: 鈥淲e’ve had a slingshot ball bearing, two air rifle pellets, a brick on a cygnet, one of them had a stone thrown on the wing and then we had a male battered to death with two sticks.鈥 The volunteer group has also seen other dead birds in the area but it is difficult to ascertain their cause of death. Never miss a Swansea story by signing up to our newsletter here 鈥淲e’ve had a lot of pigeons shot on the Tennant canal, at canal side,鈥 said Vannessa. 鈥淲e’ve had ducks dead, we have had moorhens dead, but obviously it’s a lot more difficult to retrieve their bodies, so we can’t actually say how they’ve been killed, but they are being killed in the same vicinity.鈥 Vannessa recalls an incident at Neath Canal, where a stone was thrown at a female swan breaking its wing, and resulting in her being euthanised 鈥 leaving behind seven cygnets with a male. In a different incident on May 12, 2023, a female was fatally shot through its head with an air rifle, with seven eggs stolen that were two weeks from hatching 鈥 her male was also found battered but it survived. In a more recent incident that happened between 7pm on May 31 and 9am on June 1, in Swansea Vale at the Axis Court Pond, a male was battered death while while the female was also attacked. But what rescuers found later, shocked them even more. 鈥淗e was battered with two sticks to death and the female was bashed across the face as well and she was bleeding,鈥 Vannessa said. “Now what happened was, after the attack on the female we noticed an odd behaviour where she was stretching her neck and she was chattering her beak a lot. 鈥淲e decided to rescue her just to have a further investigation and during that investigation we discovered a large piece of wood under her chin with a little hook in it embedded. 鈥淪o we decided to take her to the rescue to get her x-rayed and during the x-ray we found that she had actually been shot with a pellet that had lodged in the hyoid bone. 鈥淭he hyoid bone runs across the swan’s skull around the back of its neck and under its beak, and supports the tongue. The pellet had wedged in there under her tongue. She’s a very lucky swan to be alive.鈥 In the most recent incident, the group found a swan that appeared to have been shot with a pellet sticking out, which Vanessa describes as the 鈥渂ig black bauble” at the top of a swan’s beak. The swan also has a female and six young cygnets. He is currently being monitored to evaluate if surgical intervention is needed. 鈥淚t’s heartbreaking because you get to know these swans,鈥 Vanessa said. 鈥淭hey’ve got quirky little characters and you get recognise them by their characters, they know you because they see you on a regular basis, and it’s really heartbreaking to discover an animal has just been murdered or abused in some way. 鈥淟eave them alone. These animals, nature is difficult enough for them to survive as it is without them having these extra struggles to contend with.鈥 Vanessa has explained that the Giant鈥檚 Grave along the Neath Canal and the Axis Court Pond are the hotsopts for such attacks. The volunteer group that Vanessa works with – Swan Rescue Wales – has has received 190 calls this year with 10% related to violent attacks on swans. In addition to their own patches, the group鈥檚 volunteers have also been receiving calls from Somerset, Llandridnod Wells in Powys and even Penmaenmawr in Conwy County. A spokesperson for the RSPCA said: 鈥淭hese incidents are shocking – and sadly they appear to be acts of intentional cruelty. It is always very distressing to think that people may be taking pleasure in targeting defenceless animals 鈥淲e share our space with wildlife and need to show respect and kindness. Animals feel pain, just as we do. It鈥檚 disgusting to think that anyone could take pleasure in hurting a living creature. 鈥淎nyone with information should contact us on our inspectorate appeal line on 0300 123 8018 or please call South Wales Police on 101. 鈥淎ll wild birds are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 and it is illegal – except under licence – to take, injure or kill wild birds or to take, damage or destroy their eggs or nest whilst it is in use or being built. The maximum penalty, if found guilty, is six months in prison and/or an unlimited fine.鈥 A South Wales Police statement read: 鈥淥ver the past three to four years, we have seen several incidents involving swans along the Neath Canal with various locations from Briton Ferry to Neath with no suspects yet identified. 鈥淭hese incidents cover a large area, and we have nothing to suggest the same person is responsible for all these attacks. 鈥漌e work in conjunction with our partners the RSPCA, Swansea Council and Neath Port Talbot Council to conduct investigations into these matters. We want to remind the public that it is an offence to injure or kill a swan and we will prosecute if we find that someone has.鈥