THUNDER BAY — A city woman is worried for the safety of ducklings at the International Friendship Gardens.
Suzanne DeRusha said Wednesday the water level in the ponds at the Victoria Avenue park is the lowest she's seen in five years, and leaves baby ducks "continuously getting caught where there should be water."
She told Newswatch "They can't yet fly, and are running around on land while the parents are in high stress trying to get them back to water. The parents are flipping out."
DeRusha said she first noticed the problem last week when she was walking a dog, and that the water level has declined even more since then.
Cory Halvorsen, manager of parks & open spaces for the City of Thunder Bay, said both ponds in the park are artificially filled.
He said the larger one – on the west side of the park – was actually too high going into winter, and was so elevated after the spring runoff that the water covered a box containing a valve that's used to adjust the level.
Halvorsen said it had to be lowered to get to normal, and that's where it currently stands.
"There's lots of natural habitat for the ducks," he said.
Some repairs are needed, however, to the mechanism controlling the level of the park's other pond.
DeRusha said she's concerned because people frequently bring their dogs to the Friendship Gardens and let them go off-leash.
"That's putting these baby ducks at risk because they're not able to get away. They can't fly yet."
At the same park last year, the Ministry of Natural Resources was called to investigate after a witness reported a man and woman captured a duck and took it away in their vehicle.
Ontario laws generally prohibit capturing and relocating live wildlife.
