Poor Petra

So, it started like this:

Love At First Flight For Swan And Boat
Wild Black Swan Won't Separate From Paddle Boat In German Lake
April 2, 2007

(CBS) For Petra, a wild black swan, it was love at first flight when she flew into a German swan lake last year and spotted the mate of her dreams through the woods, CBS News correspondent Mark Phillips reports.

Petra had a weakness, it seems, for the big, strong, silent type. And to a swan. what could be bigger, stronger or more silent than the plastic paddle boat she had fallen for.

They spent a happy summer together, and when winter came and the other swans flew south, Petra refused to leave.

Local zookeepers actually tried to drive the couple apart, introducing Petra to single male swans. But she wasn't interested, and the keepers gave up. They didn't want to stress her, they say.

So when the time came to take the boat out of the boathouse and put it back in the lake, the press swarmed in. Petra was there waiting. The question: Had she gotten over her love boat? Had she realized the relationship was going nowhere — that she and the boat were just too different? Or had love survived the long cold winter?

The boat was put back into its natural habitat, and towed to a quiet corner of Swan Lake, their corner.

They couldn't hold her back.

Frankly, the reunion of Brad and Jennifer might have caused less fuss. But this is a celebrity romance that looks like it will last.

Last week, I was so excited to see this:

Swan, Swan-Shaped Boat To Part Ways
Mar 19, 2008

(AP) A long love story is over at a German zoo: Petra the swan and her swan-shaped paddleboat are parting ways.

Petra, a black swan, became a minor celebrity in 2006 when she became so attached to the boat - which is shaped like an oversized white swan - that she refused to leave its side.

Officials in the western city of Muenster decided to let her stay with it over the winter, bringing both bird and boat into a city zoo.

However, Petra met a live swan this winter. Zoo director Joerg Adler says she and her new mate - a white swan - are building a nest together.

The boat is to be returned to its local owner on Thursday.

But not everyone gets a happy ending:

Swan, paddleboat getting back together
Wed Mar 26

BERLIN - Petra the swan has a new home and so does her beloved swan-shaped paddleboat. In 2006, Petra, a black swan, became so attached to the boat — shaped like an outsized white swan — that she refused to leave its side at a lake near a zoo in the German city of Muenster.

Petra and her paddleboat were taken to the zoo.

Zoo officials finally parted bird and boat last week after Petra settled down with a real white swan and the boat was returned to the lake. But the romance was short-lived. The zoo says that, on Saturday, her new beau flew off and sought out the company of other black swans.

A zoo statement says that Petra "appears to feel lonely" and is swimming around in an agitated state. The solution? On Friday, she will be taken back to the nearby lake and her faithful paddleboat.

It really is like some sort of Hollywood love story. Poor Petra.