A LONELY young goose with a deformed wing has been rescued from Jubilee Lake in Royal Wootton Bassett and introduced to a new flock of friends in Swindon.

The Canada goose suffers from a deformity called Angel Wing and was left on his own after the other goslings got their flight feathers and departed.

It is thought a junk food diet of bread may be the cause.

The lake is a popular spot with locals and when it became clear the gosling could not follow them, residents contacted the town council and wildlife rescue centre Oak and Furrows to voice their concern.

Chrissy Ball, head of administration at the charity, said: “Catching the wild bird was tricky. “He was swimming into the middle of the lake where we could not get to him,” she said.

Luckily a local resident who had been monitoring him for several days was able to coax him into the bank with food and into an animal carrier left by Oak and Furrows.

“We brought him in to the centre to be checked over to make sure he didn’t have any other health issues. Then it was a night’s bed and breakfast and we released him the following day.”

She said: “It is a larger lake and there are some resident Canada geese that don’t migrate, therefore he will have year-round companionship.”

“We are going to be monitoring his progress and seeing how he gets on. If he cannot fly at all he is now in a place where there are other Canada geese that don’t fly.”

Angel Wing is a deformity that mainly affects waterfowl and results in wings sticking out from the bird’s body, leaving it unable to fly.

A high calorie, low vitamin diet is thought to be one of the main causes of the condition in young birds, although the wrong incubation conditions and injury are also possible.

As well as geese and Swans, it has also been reported in budgies and macaws.

The town council, which owns Jubilee Lake, has notices up urging people not to feed bread to the birds because of the risk of causing the condition. It fills their stomachs but does not provide the nutrition they need.

“It is just junk food,” said Chrissy.

Fresh chopped greens such as cabbage and spinach, grain, corn and bird seed are better for the animals.