iN VIDEO: Heartwarming recovery, release of orphaned ducklings in Summerland

It’s a tough time of year for ducklings. Not only do they face natural predators, the cars and trucks on our roads and highways are lethal for the small bundles of feathers.

Numerous mother mallard ducks have been killed by cars in the South Okanagan this spring, according to the Interior Wildlife Rehabilitation Society, and broods of ducklings were taken into the organization’s care.

In an opposite case, a mother duck’s entire brood was killed in traffic and she was injured and taken into the rehabilitation centre.

Adult mallards are usually too territorial to adopt unrelated ducklings, but “the unexpected happened,” according to a post on the society’s Facebook page.

The mother duck healed and earlier this week she adopted the brood ducklings and they were released together in a local lake with no roads nearby.

“She took them all under her wings as her own merely three hours after her own accident. We were pleasantly surprised!” the society said in the post.

Located in Summerland, the Interior Wildlife Rehabilitation Society is a non-profit organization established in 2020 that advocates for the peaceful co-existence of local communities and wildlife. The society collaborates with other local centres to rehabilitate injured, sick and displaced wildlife.