A black swan couple have parented two nestlings at a wildlife park in Qinhuangdao City, north China's Hebei Province close to the nation's capital Beijing.

Zookeeper surnamed Wu, who has been taking care of the family, said in an interview with Xinhua Sunday that they were hatched out of a nest of four eggs, two of which produced no bird.

"This was the first time that black swans were hatched in the cold winter days in the north," Wu said.

The nestlings were hatched on Nov. 6, and were fed egg yolk and milk powder in the first week before they could eat solid food, Wusaid.

The black swan family have been nested in a cozy corner of the air-conditioned elephant house to help the baby birds survive the tough winter.

The two little swans, now over three weeks old, are very much like two ugly ducklings and spend most of their time nestling up to their mother, who would proudly fondle her babies and scare away potential intruders.

Their carefree father, however, would enjoy himself in the nearby pool as the mother jumps up from time to time to kick anyone -- even the zookeeper himself -- who dares to approach her offsprings.

Mild and elegant, the endangered black swans originated from Tasmania in Australia and usually lay eggs in summer or autumn, which zoologists say are very hard to incubate, particularly in the cold winter days in north China.

Situated in the Beidaihe summer resort, the Qinhuangdao wildlife park covers some 350 hectares and is home to over 100 wildlife species, including Siberian tigers, red-crowned cranes and some other endangered species on the verge of extinction.
 
(Xinhua News Agency December 2, 2003)