ORLANDO, Fla. — Orlando Commissioner Patty Sheehan told Channel 9 on Thursday that she is upset because a swan that the city bought as a mate for Lake Eola Park's only female black-necked swan was actually a female swan that was so ill that it died.
Sheehan, who has led the charge to boost the park's swan population, said the city bought two swans and released them into Lake Eola in June in hopes that one of them would mate with a female named Queenie.
[ Watch: Could we soon see more swans at Lake Eola? ]
"The swan was not acting right from the beginning," she said. "It was actually a sick bird that we were sold. I hate that. I was very angry."
A necropsy revealed that the bird had liver and respiratory issues and that it was a female, not a male.
Contributions made to the city's Swan-A-Thon program were used to pay the $5,500 cost for the pair of swans. There is no return policy.
"We're working with our broker, and he's an honest guy," Sheehan said. "He worked with a seller that unfortunately passed a sick swan off on us, and he's working to try (to) make it right."
[ Read: Lookin' for love in all the swan places: ‘Swan-a-Thon' aims to support iconic Lake Eola birds ]
She said Queenie appears to be hitting it off with the surviving swan.
"As long as Queenie is happy, there is no plan to replace the other swan," Sheehan said.
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