A rotting great blue heron carcass dangling above a Vancouver tennis tournament isn't going anywhere yet.

The carcass is stuck in a tree, a few metres above a path between tennis courts at Stanley Park.

Officials with the Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation says it's not clear how long the heron has been there, but passersby put off by the smell will have to hold their noses.

The board says the great blue heron is a protected species in B.C., and bringing in the equipment needed to pull the dead bird out of the tree could disturb the colony above.