LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) – George the duck is now adjusting to the quiet life outside of the Las Vegas Strip.
George called the Mirage home for four years, but a good samaritan named Krista Gifford was worried what would happen to the injured duck after the resort closed.
Since FOX5 first brought you George’s story we have been getting many emails from viewers who have wanted to adopt him or figure out how to get George out of the Mirage lagoon.
This past weekend George was picked up by Gilcrease Nature Sanctuary where directors stepped in after plans to send the duck to the Flamingo fell through.
After adjusting to a new home at the sanctuary FOX5 went to see for ourselves how George is doing.
“We love animals and we want to help everybody,” Jennifer Langford the executive director of Gilcrease Nature Sanctuary said.
Langford and the rest of her team did not hesitate to take in George and personally went to catch him in the lagoon with the help of another local rescue.
Langford said plans to take George happened suddenly when the president of the Mirage reached out to her personally.
Langford said because George was half wild and half domestic, she was able to offer her sanctuary.
George is in a 30-day quarantine to make sure there is no spread of potential parasites or bird flu.
After the quarantine is over, George will be placed with the other ducks at the sanctuary.
“He is a little grumpy with everyone right now, this is a bird that has lived in the wild and he is getting used to us,” Langford said.
However, the biggest struggle right now is to get George familiar with a duck diet consisting of vegetables and pellets.
“He has been fed bread his entire life so he is not used to the healthier things he needs,” Langford said.
The uniquely hybrid duck likely has never been to a vet, until this week.
Langford invited FOX5 to the Lone Mountain Animal Hospital as George got a check up.
Despite early reports of having a broken wing, x-rays performed looked good but George is still not able to fly.
To the vet’s surprise, they were not sure if George is a male or female, so they are winging it for the time being and will continue to call George by the only name it knows.
This is because, at first glance, the colorful wings on George made vets believe George was a female, and then x-rays indicated George could be an immature male.
A DNA test was done on George to determine the gender and the results will be back in a few days.
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