Alfie the swan in Brick, who was set to be euthanized because federal investigators said he was "too aggressive", has a second chance at life -- and he got it through an unusual way.    

Neighbors in the community next to the Barnegat Bay and Brick Township hoped to save the life of the swan deemed aggressive by USDA officials.

But as luck would have it, the swan in a way saved itself by becoming tangled in fishing line. Representatives from the Popcorn Park Zoo in Lacey Township brought him in, where he will not be killed.

Wildlife officials fielded complaints about the swan starting last year.

The Brick Township neighborhood sits against a lagoon and a wildlife refuge. The swan was deemed a threat by the USDA, the federal department that oversees nonnative species, because mute swans are considered an invasive species. They are not protected, and standard policy is to kill them. 

On Friday, Alfie was seen with its beak tangled. He was trapped and rescued before USDA carried out an order to kill it. The mother swan and six babies still live at the lagoon, a fact concerning the neighbors who pushed for relocation rather than execution. 

 “I would love to have the rest of the family relocated,” says Almeida. “The problem is the USDA is not allowing us to do that. They are saying if any of us actually move the family that we are going to be fined and we are going to be arrested. And the Popcorn Zoo, or whichever rescue takes them, would then be fined, and they may lose their license.”

Alfie will remain at the zoo for now. The head of the zoo, John Bergmann, says his goal is to continue to educate the public about how to safely coexist with natural wildlife.

He also says he is in talks with neighbors and officials at the state and federal levels to relocate the entire swan family together.