New homes for dumped ducks

The dumped ducks at McLaren Falls park have been adopted. Photo/supplied

The 18 ducks that were abandoned at McLaren Falls Park have all been adopted.

Tauranga City Council put out a call for new homes yesterday and already the ducks have been rehomed.

The ducks were hand-fed and faced starvation as they could not care for themselves in the wild.

Staff at The Falls cafe in the park had been feeding them temporarily but could not continue as the ducks were beginning to enter the cafe looking for food.

It was not the first time animals had been dumped at the park - pigs, roosters chickens, cats and dogs were regularly dumped, council parks and recreation manager Mark Smith said.

The ducks were adopted out in three and fours, and the McLaren Falls park ranger said they were "flying our the door".

It was a great response from the community.

People often think dumping animals in the wild was good for them, but this was not the case.

"The reality is that animals raised by humans don't know how to cope," Mr Smith said.