One swan who mourned the death of his tape on the rails of the German railways interrupted the traffic of more than twenty train for nearly an hour before he was finally removed by firefighters, police said.
The two birds were flying over the high-speed train tracks that connect the Kassel with Göttingen, in the central Germany, during their «tour» of the area, said Cassel police.
But one of the birds was killed, possibly because it touched overhead power lines, according to the same source. The incident unfolded on December 23, but was announced yesterday, December 28.
The other bird, in mourning, sat on the side of its dead band and resisted the efforts of railwaymen to remove it from the tracks.
Firefighters with special equipment had to intervene. They removed the dead swan and its mate, safe and sound, from the area. The rescued bird was released into the river Fulda.
Twenty-three trains were delayed about forty minutes to an hour while the rescue operation lasted, according to the police statement and the Athens News Agency.
According to the British Society for the Protection of Birds, swans try to stay with their mate for their whole life.
