Crinkly the ugly swan finds love after seven years

A male swan who was shunned by females due to his oddly deformed neck may finally have found a girlfriend after seven years of waiting. Crinkly the ugly swan has become a well-known face at a Gloucester bird sanctuary, having flown in from frozen Russia every year since 2001 to spend Christmas there. But conservation workers have watched with dismay as Crinkly failed miserably to attract the opposite sex. "We were worried about Crinkly because he is such a strange-looking bird," said Jools Mackin, spokesperson for Slimbridge Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust, which is the swan's Christmas home. "Every time he returns it is against the odds." Until now, none of the females at the trust was prepared to mate with him - but conservation workers say they can see the signs of a budding romance. "We are delighted because we think Crinkly has finally found a girlfriend," said Ms Mackin.