THESE six cute ducklings were spared almost certain death by Pleasure Island staff after they went waddling off on their own without their mum.
Workers at the Cleethorpes theme park noticed the ducklings alone near the Galleon ride but their mother was nowhere to be seen.
Despite numerous attempts by several people to find her, unfortunately she could not be traced, leading many to think that something tragic may have happened as it is very unusual for a mother duck to venture far from her babies without good reason.
It is unknown where the ducklings came from but staff were concerned for their wellbeing, so housed them at the indoor quarters of the Furry Friends Farm where they are said to have been snuggling together under a heat lamp, eating and drinking well.
By sheer coincidence, this year at Furry Friends Farm there is a new duck pond and exhibit which is already home to several other ducks.
The hope is that eventually these little ones, once they are strong enough, will be introduced to the other ducks and live with them in their luxury pad.
Farm supervisor Georgia Gough said: "One of our maintenance staff spotted them while he was doing some painting. It's quite unusual for us to find ducklings, so we gave them some time to find their mum but she didn't come back.
"We've got a big lake in the centre of the park so it's possible that they were making their way there, their mum must have made a nest somewhere in the park.
"They looked lost and confused, some of them were just wandering around probably looking for their mum but they're absolutely fine now."
Pleasure Island director Melanie Wood said: "It's never happened before but we're more than happy to look after some unfortunate wayward ducklings.
"They're regular mallard ducklings, nothing particularly designer about their look but they are very cute.
"We'll look after them now for as long as we can, maybe forever but they've been able to fend for themselves already.
"We were feeding them first of all but now they're taking much more ownership of their new surroundings – they're our adopted permanent residents."
Had there not been the in-house farm on site, Mrs Wood admits that staff may have been forced to alert the RSPB and take advice from them on what to do with the orphaned feathery friends.
She said: "Thankfully we've got a fully-functional farm facility right here and not only that, the staff are knowledgeable and able to look after them.
"They're very adorable and we hope the public will enjoy looking at them and our other animals."
