IT was sickening to see the photo on the front page of Saturday’s Bolton News of a dead swan in the canal at Little Lever.

The poor creature was believed to have been shot by a gang of youths “for fun”; the RSPCA is investigating. Even more upsetting, the picture showed the swan’s mate very distressed nearby. Swans mate for life.

Let’s hope investigations reveal the perpetrators and they suffer some sort of punishment.

It’s just a pity that they couldn’t be forced to work with organisations like the Wildlife Trust, the RSPB and the National Trust to educate them about the value of our wildlife and the importance of caring for them.

Children, often bored with school holidays or given an unbalanced perspective on the value of life by violent video games, can turn to injuring wildlife.

It’s equally worrying, though, that anyone with this perspective has an airgun.