Ten ducklings are missing feared dead after vandals poured oil into the York fountain where they swam.
People who work close to the Exhibition Square fountain have been left shocked and upset by the incident, which also left two adult ducks ‘bedraggled’ by the oil.
Police are investigating and may be able to identify the people responsible via CCTV.
Jane Reed, a safety officer at nearby King’s Manor, said people in the area were very fond of the duck family, and had named the mum and dad Dolly and Butch.
When she went to catch her bus at about 8.40pm on Friday, she saw five teenage boys at Exhibition Square.
“Two of them had a bottle of cooking oil – quite big bottles – in their hands,” she told YorkMix.
“When I got on the bus, they were around the fountain and the ducks were there. Then I left.
“I came in at 8am on Saturday morning and I saw the empty cooking oil bottle in the fountain. There were no ducklings there.
“Dolly and her husband were on King’s Manor, and they were covered in cooking oil. All their feathers were coated, and she just looked as though she’d been drowned in it.
“We never found the ducklings.
“I was very angry. I feel very upset, very emotional about it. It’s had the consequence of the little ones dying.
“I think it’s downright cruel, very nasty.”
Jane doesn’t know if they poured the oil directly onto the ducks and ducklings, or just into the water where they swam.
She said Dolly and three drakes have been coming to King’s Manor for years. “Every year they’ve been having a little litter, and we’ve all got quite close to them – the staff, the students and the professors.”
The state of Dolly and Butch on Saturday reminded her of when seabirds get caught in an oil slick. The King’s Manor team have done their best to look after the birds since it happened.
She reported the incident to the police and hopes they can access CCTV footage from York Art Gallery and the traffic lights to help identify the perpetrators.
It was Dolly’s second brood of the year. “The other babies, unfortunately, got eaten by a fox.
“She’s had 26 babies altogether, and everybody at King’s Manor is absolutely heartbroken and gutted – it’s the second time we’ve had to go through this bereavement.”
Jane reported the incident to North Yorkshire Police. “We’ve escalated it and are taking it one step further, because things like this should not happen, and it’s downright cruel.”
If you can help police with their investigation, call them on 101.