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August 14, 2018

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‘Handsome’ goose headed to university

A goose named “Gu Gu” has become an online sensation after being “admitted” to Shanghai Maritime University.

The story began when a young woman surnamed Wu, who goes by the name of “XifulesiFF” on Weibo, wrote a post on Friday asking the university in the Pudong New Area whether it would take in her goose, as her family was moving to a new home which could not accommodate the fowl.

“My goose is handsome. I have raised it for one and a half years but can’t keep it anymore as I’m moving to a new home. Would you like to take in my goose? I really don’t have the heart to eat it,” Wu wrote in the post.

University staff replied and agreed to keep the bird on campus, together with other geese already there.

The university has been raising geese and ducks since moving into its campus in the Lingang area in 2007, which includes a large lake, a university official named Ji Na told Shanghai Daily.

“Our students love our geese so much that they will take photos with them when they graduate,” said Ji. “We also have a Weibo account called ‘Geese of Shanghai Maritime University’.”

Ji said the geese are taken care of by university guards and Gu Gu will join them at the end of this month.

“It will be the first ‘freshman’ to register at our university this year, as all new students will come on September 9,” she explained.

Ji said the university is located near a large natural wetland and the Nanhui Dongtan wildlife sanctuary, which is home to 249 species of birds.

Other web users cheered news of Gu Gu and his new home; some even posted fake admission letters for the goose.

Wu also contacted the Shanghai Zoo, but it declined her request to shelter the fowl. After doing some online searching, she found that Shanghai Maritime University has geese on its grounds.

“Geese live in groups, so Gu Gu will meet a lot of friends there,” she said.

Wu said Gu Gu swam up to her while she was fishing in a lake near her home in Songjiang District. She decided to keep the animal after she could not find its owner.

“It looked lovely, so I took it home and raised it as a pet in our courtyard. It was just a gosling with yellow down then, but it became handsome later,” said Wu.

“I have to pull weeds every day to feed it, otherwise it will honk,” she said of Gu Gu’s habits. “It also likes chasing us.”

Wu posted several photos and videos of the goose on Weibo over the weekend. These showed the bird sitting in an inflatable pool, as well as chasing Wu and her father.

“I hope Gu Gu can live happily in his new environment,” she wrote.




 

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