A Scots animal charity is urging anglers to take care after a swan got tangled in fishing line.
The South of Scotland Wildlife Hospital also discovered the bird had two hooks embedded in it.
The swan is one of five currently being looked after at the charity’s base at SRUC’s Barony campus at Parkgate near Dumfries.
A spokeswoman said: “Please be as careful as possible while fishing the lochs. We understand that some lines break or get caught but have a little extra thought of what damage the discarded line and hooks can do to wildlife.
The swan was taken to the hospital on Monday after being discovered tangled in fishing line at nearby Kirk Loch in Lochmaben.
Two treble barbed hooks were embedded into her foot and wing, with the second one also embedded in her body.
The spokeswoman added: “She has tried so hard to free herself she snapped the hook, leaving part of it in her body and the rest in her wing. We can tell by how hard it was to cut the barb end off the hooks to remove them just how hard she has tried to get free to actually snap the hook. Her skin in this area has lost all feathers and is very inflamed and some of her skin is torn.
“Before we even started work on her, she was given pain relief and we have cleaned up her wounds. She was also covered in lice, which didn’t help us while trying to remove the hooks and clean her up, but, we treated her for the lice after the rest of her care was complete. She is now in an enclosure inside the hospital to allow her to rest.
“Huge thank you to Martin from the SSPCA for helping our manager, cutting the hooks, putting up with the lice and even tidying up the examination room while her accommodation was being organised.”
For more information about the South of Scotland Wildlife Hospital, visit https://soswh.co.uk