Fowl Play: ‘Swan whisperer’ banned from Hyde Park after hugging and kissing protected birds
20 June 2025, 15:06 | Updated: 20 June 2025, 15:44
A homeless man has been banned from Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens after he was seen attempting to kiss and cuddle swans.
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Anders Fernstedt, attacked a volunteer who tried to intervene after a clash erupted over the birds.
Southwark Crown Court was told the 57-year-old rough sleeper, who has been dubbed the 'Swan Whisperer', clashed with two other visitors in March 2023, when he was seen cuddling and kissing the swans by Round Pond near Kensington Palace.
Fernstedt was approached by two onlookers, who objected to his “interference” with the birds.
The court was told that one onlooker, swan volunteer Jon Ferguson, stopped to warn Fernstedt about avian flu.
The conflict then escalated into a full-blown fight as Mr Ferguson tried to apprehend Fernstedt.
The pair tussled on the ground, after which Fernstedt kicked Mr Ferguson in the ribs and hit him in the face.
Mr Ferguson reportedly had to have stitches inside his mouth after the altercation.
Fernstedt then attacked another onlooker, Virginia Grey, who was filming the incident. He rammed a bike into Ms Grey, shouting at her and calling her “Hitler”.
Fernstedt represented himself in court. When cross-examining Ms Grey, he asked why she was so concerned about his interactions with the bird.
Ms Grey told the court: “Birds go to anybody who has food. If you go regularly enough they recognise you.”
“They will always come over looking for food. It is not because they think you are fantastic. But you stroke them, you cuddle them, you kiss them, you pick them up. That is interfering with wildlife, and disturbing them. It is not natural.”
Fernstedt denied the charge of assault, but was found guilty by a jury.
He had the two-year ban handed to him by Judge David Etherington at Southwark Crown Court, alongside a 15-month community order and a 15-day rehabilitation activity.
Fernstedt had become known for kissing and cuddling the protected bird species, as well as sleeping rough on the doorstep of a £210 million pound property in Knightsbridge’s Rutland Gate.
Judge Etherington told the court there were “clearly issues with the swan population due to an outbreak of avian flu”, and noted how Fernstedt had continued to “entice the swans out of the water with food” despite being warned about this by Mr Ferguson.
“You have beliefs about interacting with and touching swans and showing them to tourists to understand the bird population. The sad thing is all three of you have an interest in the welfare of birds but different views about how this should be achieved,” he said.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) reported an outbreak of Avian Influenza at the same time as the altercation in March 2023, noting that “various exposures can lead to avian influenza infection”.
“The diversity of zoonotic influenza viruses that caused human infections in 2023 is alarming, and infections of some types of zoonotic influenza viruses caused severe disease with a high mortality rate,” they said.
Several cases of human transmission were recorded early that year, including two cases detected on a poultry farm in May.
