Swans become addicted to poppy seeds at Slovakian farm

A herd of Mute Swans has been causing problems at a Slovakian farm this spring after having become addicted to eating its poppy crop.

In February, more than 200 swans began arriving at a poppy field near Komárno after it was flooded by heavy rains, as reported by local media outlet RTVS.

But instead of leaving as the floods receded, the swans have stayed after getting a taste for Opium Poppies – a bizarre situation that neither the local farmers nor conservationists had encountered before.

An intoxicated Mute Swan is removed from the poppy field near Komárno, Slovakia (DW News).

Opium Poppy is harvested as the milky latex found in the seed capsules contains compounds used to produce a range of opiate drugs, which include various painkillers.

In the four months since they arrived, the swans have consumed some €10,000 worth of poppies over a 5-ha area.

Many of the swans have become highly intoxicated, acting in dazed fashion and being unable to fly. Local media reports that "dozens" have died after eating the plants, while others became easy targets for predators.

"The entire poppy plant is toxic except for the seed. Those swans don't recognize it and thereby harm themselves," local poppy farmer Bálint Pém told RTVS.

Pém explained that he had no idea how to deal with the bizarre situation, adding: "I already called my colleagues in the Czech Republic, they didn't even believe me. We haven't come across anything like this in Slovakia yet."

Swans are protected by law in Slovakia, meaning Pem was not allowed to remove the birds without permission. Finally, however, permission was granted for conservationists to remove the remaining surviving birds and take them away to detox.