London, UK: A nesting swan was shot in the head with an air rifle by an unidentified hunter.

This is the fifth bird in 10 days to be targeted in a similar cruel attack.

The swan was attacked while she was trying to unhatch her eggs in the Thames Valley, which is located in the west of London.

The poor little one was the fifth swan to be mindlessly attacked.

Charity Swan Support was called to help the injured bird.

The group ended up performing an operation to remove the 8mm pellet.

Her eggs were taken to a support center and she will be reunited with them once the mother has made a full recovery.

In what are believed to be linked attacks, four other swans were targeted.

1 was killed.

Wendy Hermon, a member of the Charity Swan Support, said that the swan was found on a nest with blood dripping out from its head.

She added:

She was sat on a nest and they shot her in the head. We got a call to say she had blood all over its head. We went to pick her up and she had an operation on Thursday to remove an 8mm ball fired from an air weapon. She’s very subdued but she’s okay and will hopefully make a full recovery. I think it’s sick, sick people who have nothing else better to do. How can someone shoot a defenceless swan sat on a nest?

David Barber MVO, the Queen’s Swan Marker, called the incident as “mindless cruelty” and added that such things are not acceptable.