There is an amazing wildlife in and around Berlin, from inner city to outskirts, and I have always thought it was a source of pride and joy to Berlin and berliners.

But perhaps that is just hypocrisy.

About a month ago, I discovered an injured female tufted duck on Landwehrkanal. There is a small mound of earth by the bank just across from Vivantes and the van Loon restaurant ship where a couple of swans, and now also this injured duck, congregate.

As can be seen in the photo, the duck has a badly broken wing.

Because of a concrete wall, the location is not immediately accessible, at least not to me, and I am quite sure that even if someone did manage to climb down, the duck would flee into the water. A net and perhaps a small boat would be needed.

As can be seen in the photo, the duck has a badly broken wing. She normally sits very still but sometimes goes to the edge of the water to drink, and when she is startled, she also goes in and manages to swim for a short while before coming back on dry land.

The first time I saw her, there were people there who said it had been reported to the relevant authorities. I have since been back about once a week, including yesterday morning, and she is still there, getting smaller and smaller and sitting more and more still. Dying a slow and, I imagine, agonising death.

On several occasions, I have reported it to two organisations pretending to concern themselves with wildlife rescue, and their standard reply is – we know – many people are reporting on this – we have been there several times and could not find the duck. We will try again tomorrow. And then nothing happens.

So much for Berlin’s love of its wildlife.