Police searching for man accused of stealing ducklings from ponds

SUGARHOUSE – Salt Lake City Police and state wildlife officials are looking into bizarre claims of a man stealing ducklings from two different ponds.

Brickyard Condominium resident Linda Walker noticed someone walking up to the pond on the west side of the complex on July 8^th.  At first, she thought the man was doing pond maintenance, but, “I saw him grab some and stick them inside of his shirt.  There were several there already.”

Walker says she asked the man why he was doing this, and he reportedly responded by saying the ducks were his, and he was going to eat them.  She adds that she could hear the ducklings’ mother calling out for her babies after he left.  “It was heartbreaking, really.  It’s a little, tiny, defenseless duck.  Why would you take that?  You worry about cats getting the ducks, not humans,” she says.

Police say they got another report of a man doing the same thing at the same pond last Thursday.  Salt Lake City Detective Richard Chipping says officers on scene had also heard reports of a man matching that description taking ducks from the pond in Sugarhouse Park.  However, Chipping says the description is quite vague.  “He was wearing a black shirt and he had some dark pants and a beanie,” Chipping says.

Investigators are trying to determine if the ducks that were stolen were domesticated or if they’re migratory, therefore considered wild.  Wildlife officials say if they were migratory, the suspect is breaking state law.