University of York's tall duck Long Boi is missing

Long Boi came to fame in 2021 featuring on US television and Radio 1

A tall duck living at the University of York Campus which became a social media sensation has not been seen for several weeks, the university confirmed.

Student newspaper The Tab reported Long Boi had not been seen recently claiming the last sighting of the animal was on 22 April.

The mallard/Indian runner cross has amassed more than 56,000 followers on the Instagram social network.

A post on the Instagram account dedicated to the duck said: "Long Boi's age is unknown and he has never gone missing like this before. Very sadly, this disappearance suggests a strong possibility that Long Boi may have passed away.

"It is unclear how or exactly when this may have happened, and we can only hope that if Long Boi really is gone, his passing was peaceful.

"Any information on sightings of Long Boi or his last known location would be incredibly useful in working out what may have happened."

The university said staff were keeping a lookout for him.

He first came to attention after a post on Reddit incorrectly described him as the "tallest mallard ever, at over 1m tall".

It was later confirmed he was in fact 70cm in height.

His fame grew after he was mentioned on James Corden's US talk show and by Greg James on BBC Radio 1.

A University of York spokesperson said: "Long Boi is a much-loved character on campus and whilst we haven't seen him around over the past few weeks, we continue to keep a lookout for him and hope to see him again, safe and well, soon."