Hunt is on for culprits after ducks killed and injured in Ronda park popular with tourists

Ronda woke up to some tragic news last week, when workers discovered that the three ducks in the mountain town's Alameda del Tajo park, an area popular with tourists, had been attacked. According to parks and gardens councillor Concha Muñoz, the ducks had been the target of acts of cruelty, acts that have been denounced by the town hall, which is now trying to find out who was responsible.

Staff from the company responsible for the maintenance of the park found one of the three ducks dead in the pond. Another had been badly injured, which is now being treated by a veterinary surgeon; while the whereabouts of the third duck is unknown.

"Some unscrupulous people have killed one of the birds, seriously injured another and the third is missing, and we are fearing the worst," Muñoz said.

The councillor explained that the culprits are believed to have entered the Alameda outside its regular opening hours. The park is open to the public from 8am to 10pm.

"We want to publicly denounce everything that has happened because we do not understand how some unscrupulous people have been able to attack animals that have been living in the Alameda pond for years without causing any kind of disturbance," Muñoz added.

The ducks in the Alameda are one of the most popular attractions of this area, which has been visited by generations of Ronda residents and visitors. The park was once home to other animals, such as peacocks, but they were removed, among other reasons, because of the noise they created, which disturbed local residents, and because of the remodelling of the area.

Unfortunately, this is not the first time that the Alameda has been vandalised. It is a recurring problem. On another occasion, the statues of the 'angelino' fountains were vandalised.