Dommed ducks doomed
The only population of rare blue ducks outside New Zealand appears to be doomed.
Ben, a male put into a pen with Cherry, the last remaining female at a British sanctuary, has ignored her and instead bonded with Jerry, a male and the only other blue duck left outside New Zealand. Both Ben and Jerry have shunned Cherry - ''who now swims sadly by herself at the other side of their pond'', London's Mirror newspaper reported.
A trust spokeswoman at Arundel, Grace Rawnsley, said Jerry had shared the water at Arundel, West Sussex, with Cherry for years - but had shown no signs of interest in her.
So the trust brought in Ben, moved Jerry next door and waited to see what would happen. When love failed to bloom they re-introduced Jerry and suddenly everything went swimmingly... but only between the drakes.
''The fact they have turned out to be gay has played havoc with our breeding plans,'' she said.
Arundel Wetland Centre warden Paul Stevens told the Telegraph newspaper that the two male birds made ''a lovely couple''.
''They stay together all the time, parading up and down their enclosure and whistling to each other as a male might do with a female he wants to mate with,'' he said.
"It would have been nice to get a last clutch of eggs from Cherry but Ben and Jerry do make a lovely couple.''
Poor Cherry - surely NZ could send her a Garcia?
