England
Giant duck becomes a social media star
© Polina MB / Shutterstock
No, this is not a (newspaper) duck, but a prominent one. This 70 centimeter bird from York, England, is significantly larger than its conspecifics – and therefore became famous on Instagram.
What a quark, the inclined reader may now think. But if this prominent duck crouched, it would be just as big as its conspecifics. The poultry called “Long Boi” live on the campus of the University of York in England. The unusual name comes from its size: At around 70 centimeters, Long Boi towers far above the other ducks he lives with on campus. Long Boi waddled quietly into the timeline of almost 25,000 followers, on Instagram alone. Photos of the celebrity duck also went viral on Twitter and Reddit, where users mistakenly mistook it for the world’s largest duck.
Students became aware of the lonely duck
The reason for its entity lies in its origin: Long Boi is a cross between an Indian running duck and a mallard. That doesn’t make him the largest duck in the world, but it is almost certainly the most prominent.
The students also love their duck. Zoe Duffin is studying biology at the University of York, she founded and manages Long Boi’s social media presence. “We felt a bit sorry for him because he didn’t fit in with the other ducks and was shunned by them, he seemed pretty lonely,” Duffin told the BBC. But that has changed in the meantime. Long Boi went from being a lonely campus drake to a star on social media, even making a virtual appearance on James Corden’s American Late Night Show. There the presenter Corden has a lot of fun: “Put the duck in a trench coat and it will be like two ducks trying to get into an adult film.”
By now, Long Boi has become a real pack animal, Zoe Duffin tells the BBC: “Over time, he’s gained a huge following among York students, he’s quite a celebrity on campus and has done well since and with the other waterfowl integrated.” Duck well, all well.
source: “BBC” / “York Press” / Instagram (@Longboiyork)
This article originally appeared on stern.de.