Vancouver’s most famous avian resident “Canuck the Crow” has disappeared, and there is a $10,000 reward for information leading to his safe return.
Shawn Bergman, who runs the Facebook page “Canuck And I” says the beloved bird hasn’t been spotted in his East Vancouver neighbourhood for nearly a week.
“I am extremely worried about him,” Bergman says in a video posted to the page. “This is not like him, he hasn’t gone off on any multiple-day adventures for over two years, so I’m having a really hard time believing that he’s just out there being a crow.”
The crow, who rose to international fame after stealing a knife from a 2016 crime scene, is beloved in B.C’s lower mainland. He was voted as Vancouver’s unofficial ambassador, besting the likes of Michael J. Fox and Seth Rogen, by a 2018 CBC readers’ poll.
Earlier this year, Canuck was banded as a federally protected bird, becoming the first crow to be banded in North America for non-endangered and non-research purposes. He also sports an orange band on one leg which identifies him. The crow and his partner Cassiar, who also lives in the area, welcomed a brood of chicks earlier this summer.
Bergman says Cassiar has been calling for Canuck but the bird hasn’t appeared.
“I want my buddy to come home,” he says in the video, his voice breaking. “Cassiar is absolutely distraught right now. She keeps sitting on the power lines in the back alley and going out to the trees on the front street and she keeps calling to him and not getting any result.”
$10,000 for his return
Bergman says anonymous fans have contributed a $10,000 reward for the crow’s safe return.
“[The money] has been put together by a number of donors who have requested to be anonymous,” Bergman told Vancouver Is Awesome.
“We had it up to $5,000 but then one person contacted me and said they wanted to add $5,000,” he said. “So that was a very, very nice donation that they made. Apparently Canuck has helped that person quite a lot and they just want to help to bring him home.”
WATCH: Crow follows computer mouse with beak. Story continues below.
On the Facebook page, Bergman said there’s been a few leads as to the crow’s location, but non have been concrete.
“Went and did a search at the PNE grounds including the coliseum where a crow was spotted inside. No result,” he wrote. “There was also a crow spotted in Washington that matched his description, however the timeline may be off for it to be him. Still being looked into.”
Bergman says that anyone with information on Canuck’s whereabouts should email him at canuckandi@gmail.com.