Aussie duck shocks researchers by learning to swear

European researchers have been “surprised” by an Australian duck which learned to swear.

The musk duck named Ripper was the subject of a 1987 study by researcher Dr Peter Fullagar, but the bird’s ability to vocalise had gone largely unknown by the international scientific community.

Thirty-five years on, Netherlands-based Professor Carel ten Cate came across a short note about the duck’s behaviour in an Australian reference book.

Source: Image: Getty / File Audio: Carel ten Cate and Peter J. Fullagar