An online petition has been started to build a duckling ramp in the Inner Harbour.
According to BC SPCA Wild ARC, several baby ducks die each year in the harbour because they can't get out of the water.
Katie Bennett started the petition called “Demanding a Spring Ramp be Made for the Harbour Ducklings”. She said she started the petition when she tried rescuing a duckling from the harbour, which later died.
“We were in the Inner Harbour and we went for a walk…basically we looked down into the water and there were some tourists ‘ooh-ing and ah-ing’ I looked everywhere and I couldn’t find the mom anywhere. I noticed they were trying to scramble up on these oily logs and slipping,” Bennet said. “Everyone I talked to that worked at the harbour said they were aware of the ducklings, that sadly they were the last two left of nine over the course of a few days.”
Wild ARC manager Andrea Wallace says mother ducks will take them to water, but may not check for a way to get out.
“When the ducklings are born she’ll lead them to water and basically take them in and out of water throughout the day,” Wallace said. “Ducklings are young and don’t have their water proofing feathers so they can’t stay in the water all the time, the need to be able to get out and dry off and warm up.“
The petition hopes to get a ramp built in the harbour to provide a safe way out of the water until they're old enough to fly.