A zoo in the Russian city of Nizhny Novgorod will erect a monument to a pair of swans who died in swift succession earlier this year after one was apparently murdered by zoo visitors and its mate pined to death, Russian media reported Monday.
Gvidon and Tsarevna had lived at the Limpopo Zoo for about eight years when Tsarevna, the female swan, fell ill and died on Jan. 29 this year after swallowing a needle that had likely been concealed inside a piece of bread and fed to the birds by visitors.
After her death, her mate Gvidon started shunning the company of other swans and birds, stopped eating and died less than a month later, on Feb. 26.
The zoo will hold a competition to design a monument to love, faithfulness and devotion in honor of the swans, media cited the zoo as saying.
