Wednesday, February 4
On Monday afternoon, two men rescued a helpless swan at temperatures of minus 9 by Lohmühlenbrücke in Neukölln. It appears that the swan fell asleep and when it woke up, it was frozen firmly in place.
Now, a video of the rescue has gone viral on Instagram. In the reel, the swan can be seen shaking with its beak frozen shut and its body stuck to the ice, while the two men row up to it in an inflatable canoe and begin hammering at the ice. After freeing the bird’s feet, one of the men carries it across the ice to safety.
While more strangers help, they give the animal water, dip its beak in warm water and keep it calm it until the fire brigade arrive. The swan had hardly any strength left, so the fire department brought the bird to a nearby station in a transport box, where it is currently being looked after.
The fire department made it very clear that such rescue missions should remain the exception. They receive multiple worried calls about helpless animals on the ice or in cold water, but people should not risk their own health to save them.
Yet this particularly rescue shows how people can come together to care for Berlin’s wild animals in extreme conditions – even when all you have is a hammer, a broomstick and an inflatable canoe.
