These images show a duck which was found with its beak cruelly taped shut and string after it was tied up with string after it apparently managed to escape from its captors.
The eastern spot-billed duck was found by an unnamed man in his fifties on his balcony at his third-floor flat in the city of Hikone, in Shiga prefecture in central Japan’s Kansai Region.
The photos show how the duck’s bill had been taped shut and its body had been tied up with string.
The man called the police and officers worked to free the duck, which measured around 40 centimetres in length.
The officers managed to untie the duck and give it a checkup on its health before releasing into at Japan’s largest lake, Lake Biwa.
Police sources reported in local media say they believe the duck might have escaped from a captor. The hunting season for the ducks in the prefecture ended in February and is not due to begin again until November.
The police are investigating the case to see if the Protection and Control of Wild Birds and Mammals and Hunting Management Law had been broken.
No arrests have been reported.
The eastern spot-billed duck’s name is derived from the yellow spot on the end of its bill.
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Story By: Alex Cope, Sub-Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: AsiaWire Report
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