Watch The 59-foot-Tall Rubber Duck Exploding Hours Before Its Big Moment In Taiwan

It is the second time one of the giant ducks, designed by Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman, has met an untimely end. The latest incident happened as crowds gathered to celebrate New Year's Eve, and the giant duck formed part of festivities in Keelung Port, reported the BBC.
But the duck never made it to 2014, deflating long before.

"We want to apologize to fans of the yellow rubber duck," organizer Huang Jing-Tai said. "We will certainly examine the duck to determine the cause."
One theory is that the duck was attacked by eagles.

huffingtonpost.com

A version of Florentijn Hofman's iconic rubber duck has finally found a permanent home. The giant inflatable bird brought duck fever to the shores of Hong Kong when it swam in the waters of Victoria Harbor earlier this year.

huffingtonpost.com

The art installation – which will be about 5 feet taller than the 54-foot duck that was floating in Hong Kong’s Victoria Harbor – is still under construction, but it already has a Facebook fan page called “Rubber Duck Welcome to Keelung,” which boasts more than 700 messages from well-wishers.

time.com

THOUSANDS turned out yesterday to bid farewell to a giant inflatable yellow rubber duck which has captivated Hong Kong. It was spending its final day in the city's harbor before leaving for Pittsburgh in the United States.

In Hong Kong thousands were seen taking their last look on Sunday at the genuine duck, wishing it well for the journey ahead and thanking it for bringing joy to the Asian financial hub.

channelnewsasia.com

"Missing you already ducky! Must let you go to bring happiness to people around the world!!" Annie Hung wrote on Hofman's Facebook wall.

channelnewsasia.com

"The rubber duck has brought us a lot of happiness... I hope it will come back," said 34 year-old teacher Tina Yip.

Hofman said he hopes the duck, which will now travel to the US city of Pittsburgh, will act as a “catalyst” to connect people to public art. The duck was to be deflated early Monday before being shipped out.

themalaysianinsider.com

A huge inflatable duck that has been floating in Hong Kong's Victoria harbour for the past two weeks has been unexpectedly reduced to a puddle of yellow plastic, drawing howls of protest – and accusations of 'fowl play'.

guardian.co.uk

The mood of Chinese bloggers appears to be tied up with the state of the big yellow rubber dock in Hong Kong. After the giant inflatable duck was deflated, the hashtag #DEVASTATED became trending on Twitter.

Its deflation caused disappointment in the city, where the duck has become a popular tourist attraction.
Mr Hofman has previously warned that the PVC duck would need to be deflated if it faced high winds and waves.

bbc.co.uk

"The sky looks like it is crying for me – I took time off from work just to see the duck, now it is just a blob," 45-year-old clerk Mirinna Chan. "It's really our childhood dream, because when we bathed as children, we would have one or two of the rubber ducks next to us."

guardian.co.uk

"We scheduled a body check for these two days. If everything is fine we can inflate it as soon as possible and the public can appreciate it again," Andrew Yeung, a spokesman for the Harbour City shopping centre that arranged the installation, told the news agency AFP.

bbc.co.uk

In a post that has been forwarded more than 8,000 times, user Huxiang Mountain Person proposed 10 tongue-in-cheek explanations, including: "Avian flu was too strong," "Asia's water quality was too rough," and "It worked overtime for seven days in a row and suddenly died".

guardian.co.uk

Some suspected that "fowl" play harmed the sitting duck; others dismissed the notion of a quack attack and proposed that its health merely nosedived, believing any hope for a recovery was strictly for the birds.

This is not the first time the duck has been the target of possible foul play. When it was installed in Belgium in 2009, someone stabbed it 42 times.

time.com

Harbour City said it is checking the reason behind the deflation. "Because it's Victoria Harbour, the waves are strong," explained Sandy Lee of Harbour City, who theorised a leak is the culprit, not a vandal.

Dubbed Spreading Joy Around The World, it was designed to 'put a smile' on people's faces. The 54ft-high inflatable made its first appearance today in Hong Kong.

It’s not quite the same as King Kong coming to Tokyo, but a new art installation in Hong Kong featuring a rubber duck bobbing in the harbor has become the city’s latest attraction.

time.com

The duck has been transported around the world since 2007, bringing a message of peace and harmony. It will be on display until June.

Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman created the bright yellow duck and it was built of PVC in New Zealand.

He was on hand as the six-story duck arrived and said it later had to be deflated because high winds and waves created a "big challenge."

"I see it as an adult thing. It makes you feel young again. It refers to your childhood when there was no stress or economic pressure, no worry about having to pay the rent," said Hofman.

Patung itik getah gergasi di pelabuhan Hong Kong

It has already visited famous waters around the world, including the cities of Sydney, Osaka and Auckland. Its next location is a well-kept secret.

Next stop for Rubber Duck is the United States. The exact destination is a closely guarded secret.

"I can't say, it's confidential," said Hoffman. "In the States it will stay a secret until the last week."