A WILDLIFE group has issued a warning over fishing litter after spending days tracking a swan with a fishing hook in its mouth was finally caught and the hook removed by an animal rescue group.

Chloe-Mai's Wildlife Rescue spent four days tracking down the male swan on Argal Lake, Penryn after receiving reports that it had a fishing line coming from his mouth with a hook attached and was not eating.

The rescue has prompted the group to warn people about the dangers of not picking up any unwanted fishing equipment and leaving it on the shore.

Talking about the rescue Chloe-Mai said the swan was unable to eat and would spit out any food he picked up but was wise enough not to come too close to the potential rescuers.

On the final day she said: "We went out fully armed and almost grabbed him in the water but he was able to push past but stayed around as his partner still wanted her breakfast.

"Felicity our amazing vet was able to encourage him closer with some food in a new place and was able to grab onto him as he put his head under the water. After a few minutes of wrestling and a game of buckaroo we had him restrained so we could have a good look at the damage.

"Luckily the hook was stuck in his tongue as we feared he had swallowed it and it was down his oesophagus and would need surgery to remove it.

"The end was barbed which meant it was truly stuck in place but we were able to remove it with wire cutters. A good clean up and some wound gel later he was released back to his partner who wouldn't stop calling for him the whole time we were removing the hook.

"It's so important to pick up any litter and unwanted fishing equipment as this is a prime example of what happens. He also had 2 floats attached to the line but was able to break this off on Wednesday. We were lucky that we could catch him before he got too weak and that the hook was embedded in his mouth rather than being swallowed."

The rescue centre is hoping to invest in a long rescue pole which has different attachments, from a Swan hook to a grasper and a net. They say this would have been very useful in this rescue but also in the future for birds stuck in hard to reach places and general rescue missons.

To support the page and the work they do, their Amazon wishlist: is at www.amazon.co.uk/.../genericItems.../A6014B8DP4FP...

Or you can make a donation through paypal: Chloe-mai_wildlife_rescue@outlook.com