The University of York has confirmed Long Boi has passed away

The University of York has confirmed that Long Boi, the university’s famous campus duck, has likely passed away.

Last week rumours began to spread about Long Boi’s wellbeing as the university confirmed he hadn’t been seen in “a few weeks”.

Today, the University of York has said that: “Following a period of almost two months without a confirmed sighting of Long Boi, we are today forced to conclude that he has passed away.”

In a joint statement on Instagram this morning, the uni and SU said: “We appreciate this is not the resolution that many people were wishing for, but hope that acknowledging his passing allows us to focus on celebrating his life and commemorating the time he spent with us.”

It said that during his time on campus, Long Boi “brought joy to staff, students, alumni and visitors to York” and that the grounds team “provided a rich life for him during the four years he lived with us.

“We remain grateful for the incredible community of fans who have given their time, energy and skills to celebrating Long Boi and the abundance of wildlife here on campus.

“We are a campus bursting with flowers and fauna, and while we appreciate people may wish to leave floral tributes, we would instead encourage you to do something for the local environment, such as feeding the ducks at your local pond or making a charitable donation in Long Boi’s memory.”

via @longboiyork

It said the University of York’s Student Union is working on plans to organise a “fitting tribute to Long Boi”, and that details of an official fundraising campaign will be confirmed in “due course”.

Tributes have been pouring in for Long Boi for the past week, and the response to his disappearance not just across the university but also nationally has been huge. Long Boi’s Instagram post reached over 20,000 likes, and the news made it to BBC Radio One’s Breakfast Show, where Greg James said: “We have to believe, where would we be without hope, and where would we be without this duck. It can’t be goodbye.”

If you have any tributes to Long Boi please DM us on Instagram @theyorktab

Featured image via @longboiyork

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