Have you seen this duck? Location of white water fowl puzzles locals

A white duck is pictured at Queen Elizabeth Park in December 2021, surrounded by Mallards. (Roberta Dight)

A suspected duck-napping is ruffling feathers in Vancouver’s Little Mountain neighbourhood.

Roberta Dight, a 45-year-old who’s lived near Queen Elizabeth Park for her entire life, says a white water fowl that’s frequented the duck pond there for years has gone missing following a suspicious incident she witnessed earlier this month.

“Two weeks ago, I saw a car at the duck pond behaving strangely and the driver was trying to get the ducks to come over to the car,” Dight told CTV News. “I thought it was a bit odd and ignored it but then saw a thread on Reddit later about somebody watching a woman attempt to capture the white duck on the very same day near the time I was there.”

The person behind the post on Reddit says they called 311 on Dec. 14 to file a report with the city’s park board after seeing a woman in a car try to lure the white duck into her car.

“They recorded the lady’s licence plate number. The operator was super helpful and made a note for the parks and wildlife people to check on it within the next day!” reads the post.

CTV News reached out to the city, weeks later, to see if any progress had been made in the search for the white duck and was told staff have never heard of the beloved fowl.

“No staff are aware of a stolen or missing duck,” Godfrey Tait, the city’s engineering services communications manager, said Thursday. “I spoke with the Director of Parks who has been with the Park Board for many years and knows Queen E. Park very well. He and his staff are also not aware of there ever having been a white duck living in the park.”

As recently as May, however, a group of bird watchers visiting from Delta blogged about the bird after a visit to Queen Elizabeth Park.

“The pond had Mallard Ducks, one snow-white domesticated duck, and a handsome Gadwall,” reads the post by Delta Nature Casual Birders.

Dight, who shared pictures of the white duck with CTV News, says the community reaction to news of the duck’s disappearance has been surprising.

“I didn’t realize how many people had come to know the duck,” Dight said, adding that the fowl stands out in a crowd of Mallards. “Even my four-year-old son likes to see the duck. Who would steal it, who does that?”