Lakeland’s swans, descendants of Queen Elizabeth II’s gift, get annual health checkup

LAKELAND, Fla. (AP) – Dozens of swans descended from a pair gifted to the central Florida city of Lakeland by Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II in the 1950s were rounded up Tuesday for their annual health checkup.

The 54 swans were scooped up in a net by a parks and recreation staffer in a boat on Lakeland’s Lake Morton. They were placed in temporary pens and taken to an animal hospital to prepare for their examinations.

At the animal hospital on Wednesday, they will be weighed and checked for any infirmities, and baby swans will be microchipped.

The swan roundup is a signature event in Lakeland, a city of around 125,000 residents located between Tampa and Orlando.

Elizabeth sent the pair of swans as gifts to the city of Lakeland in 1957 after the Florida city’s swan population was depleted by disease and predators. The queen became aware of the swan situation from two former Lakeland residents living abroad and offered the pair from the royal flock living on the Thames River outside London.

The swan became the symbol of Lakeland and is found on its logo. The swan roundup started in 1980, as the lake’s swan population multiplied.