RSPCA investigates Perth man over "distressing" act

Wildlife experts are outraged after a Perth man allegedly attacked a swan by lifting it from the water and over his head during Australia Day. 

In the video posted to Instagram, the man appears to jump from a boat to the swan and lifts the bird by its legs up and out of the water while his friends cheer. 

WA Seabird Rescue, a not-for-profit rescue group, was informed of the video and have since passed it onto the RSPCA. 

“Here in the Mandurah estuary, we do have a large population of black swans, and they are very humanised, so unfortunately, people feed them, which means they often come up to the boat,” rescue volunteer Rachel Olsen said. 

"Two swans had approached the boat, and one of the blokes jumped from the boat onto the swan," she added. 

“We invest a lot of time and energy to try and do what we can for our native wildlife, and it is distressing that we do see huge increases in these types of behaviours over school holidays and public holidays,” the rescue volunteer continued. 

She said that these types of incidents unnecessarily added to an already busy time for the wildlife group. 

“We had four black swans that were hooked and entangled in one week over Christmas,” she said. 

The RSPCA have since released a statement saying that they are investigating the report. 

“RSPCA WA had received a report about an alleged incident involving a swan on the Mandurah estuary and is investigating,” a spokesman said.

Image: Instagram