Sparking controversy nationwide, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) announced this week on X that it will further restrict the terms of federal research funding, prohibiting the purchase of “mental wellness animals” using NIH and NSF funds.

This announcement has been widely seen as a response from the Trump administration to a report written by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., which claimed that several universities utilize government funds to purchase so-called “mental wellness animals”—pets meant to help graduate students and postdocs deal with stress and anxiety. RFK Jr. provided the example of Rockefeller University in New York, where he claims these funds have been directed towards the annual procurement of three families of ducks (including ducklings) each spring from an organic farm in the Mid-Hudson Valley. The ducklings grow up on the campus pond and are reportedly beloved members of the community.

Elon Musk tweeted, “Guaranteed housing, free meals and childcare, these Upper East Side ducklings are treated better than most Americans, wasting thousands of taxpayer dollars annually.” So far, there have been no attempts by federal judges to reverse this decision.

Just this morning, Rockefeller administrators issued a statement addressing the claims that the ducks in the university pond were acquired with grant money. In the statement, they clarified that the ducks are endowed in perpetuity by a gift from the billionaire Scrooge McDuck. Mr. McDuck was uninterested in answering our questions, angrily replying to our inquiry: “It’s not worth my ducking time.” It remains to be seen whether the darling ducklings return to campus this spring, or whether the university community will instead resort to feeding the pigeons that loiter in the parking lot.

Fact Checking: Giacomo Glotzer