Statue of famous duck to be unveiled at University of York
Students raised more than £5,000 to remember Long Boi
The statue of a really tall duck will be unveiled at the University of York this morning.
Long Boi was famous around the world - measuring in at an impressive 71 cm.
He disappeared from campus last year and students have since raised more than £5,000 for the statue to remember him.
Neil Mason is the sculptor: "He's got a very big fan base. There's a lot of footage, videos and photographs, so I was able to view those and see them in the round and sort of build up my visualisation."
"I like to believe people will recognise him so we'll see. Obviously it's not a perfect replica, but it's my interpretation of Long Boi and his character."
Who was Long Boi?
The University say 'Long Boi arrived on Campus West in 2018; unlike many other wildfowl, he wasn’t deliberately introduced - he just appeared. The suspicion is that he and another duck were brought to the lake by their former owners.'
'Zoe Duffin, then a Biology undergraduate, spotted this slightly out of place addition and was very taken with him: “We started feeding and taking photos of him, coining the name Long Boi due to his tall stature. We did feel a bit sorry for him; he seemed quite lonely.” Luckily, his loneliness would not last. '
'It was Zoe who coined the name Long Boi and who created the Instagram account which would bring him to wider attention (at the time of writing, in 2024, the account has over 56,000 followers).'