A video of an unidentified individual kicking a campus duck and a photo of another unidentified individual grabbing the duck by the wings started circulating around the UM community on the evening of Friday, Aug. 22.
According to multiple sources, the duck in the photo and the video is the same beloved duck that the community has named “Ivan.” Ivan is notoriously friendly, frequently waddling up to students in hopes of food or water.
“The duck in the photo and video have the same marking, so I’m not certain that it’s the same duck but I would assume so,” said Alexa Wood, a UPurr member and sophomore studying marine biology and ecology. “In the UPurr GroupMe, people were discussing Ivan and said that he was hanging around outside Daybreak and Smoothie King. Ivan is the only duck that would come up to me and not walk away when I got too close.”
The muscovy duck species is an invasive species and UM has formerly made attempts to remove the ducks from campus. Apart from being non-native, some students find the ducks dirty and aggressive…