Cops probe death of Kate the goose

Ottawa - Canadian police launched an investigation Wednesday into the shooting death of a goose named after the Duchess of Cambridge that has left the bird's mate William and local townsfolk "heartbroken."

"There is an ongoing and active investigation into this unfortunate incident," Ontario Provincial Police Constable Glen Staley told AFP.

Vandals broke into a pond enclosure at a cemetery in the town of Picton, about 200km east of Toronto on the shores of Lake Ontario, and shot at the geese, ducks and other waterfowl using a pellet gun, according to the Glenwood Cemetery's website.

The ducks fled but William and Kate "could not escape because they have clipped wings and cannot fly," said a statement.

The March 21 incident has left William and the geeses' many admirers "heartbroken over Kate's untimely and senseless death," according to the cemetery.

The brown and white Asiatic geese mate for life and had been fixtures in the pond for 15 years.

Volunteers who fed the pair named them after Britain's royal couple following Prince William and his wife Kate's first official international outing in 2011 to Canada.