'It was a lovely moment': Cop stops Auckland traffic for ducklings

Photo credit: Supplied / Muirie Cook

As the country grapples with a tragic murder, a heartwarming gesture by New Zealand Police might just make your day. 

Aucklander Muirie Cook watched as police stopped traffic on Monday morning to help a group of ducklings cross the highway. 

The kind gesture Ms Cook captured took place at around 9am on Auckland's Northwestern Motorway by the St Luke's off-ramp, she said. 

In the image, a police car can be seen parked across a motorway lane as a group of about five ducklings cross the road, huddled together. 

She told WeatherWatch she just couldn't resist snapping a photo of the ducklings being protected by the police car. 

"The police car herded them across three lanes of traffic," she said. "It took a good few minutes because they kept darting back or stopping.

"Everyone was just stopped watching - it was a lovely moment."

She said she didn't see a mother duck with the ducklings. 

A similar incident happened last year when a Whakatāne resident caught the adorable moment a police officer and a member of the public escorted a mother duck and her brood across the road. 

"It's something to make people smile for the day," Marylou Bruys, who captured the video, told Newhsub at the time. 

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