Ducklings cause hour-long traffic jam on motorway, motorists unsuccessfully attempt to shoo birds on

A family of ducklings cause chaos for Wellington motorists on Sunday morning (FILE PHOTO)
LUKE KIRKEBY/ FAIRFAX NZ/Stuff
A family of ducklings cause chaos for Wellington motorists on Sunday morning (FILE PHOTO)

A family of ducks were responsible for a major traffic jam on the Porirua-Johnsonville motorway, near Wellington on Sunday morning.

At about 10:40am a mother duck and her brood of ducklings attempted to cross the 100kmh road, causing drivers to stop to avoid running them over.

It comes two days after an errant, mystery seal blocked evening traffic on Wellington Urban Motorway. Police were not able to locate the seal.

Were you stuck behind the ducklings on the motorway? Contact newstips@stuff.co.nz

Police received at least six separate calls from frustrated drivers, some of whom were stuck in traffic for over an hour.

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Several drivers got out of their cars in an attempt to shoo the ducks.

A police spokesperson said getting out of a vehicle for any reason is dangerous on an urban motorway.

“Although they are very cute, it is very dangerous when people stop their cars on the motorway,” she said.

Animal control was sent to the scene and managed to safely remove all the ducks.

Traffic reportedly started to clear from around 11:45 onwards, after just over an hour.

Stuff