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Abandoned peacocks face starvation danger
(China Daily)
Updated: 2006-01-13 05:48
Dozens of peacocks have been abandoned without food in freezing conditions in
a park in Beijing.
Dozens of peacocks
have been abandoned without food in freezing conditions in a park in
Beijing. [Beijing Morning Post] | The Peacock Garden, which contains 160 of the birds, in Xiangshan (Fragrance
Hill) Park in western Beijing has been unstaffed after workers fled last
Thursday.
It follows a slump in ticket sales because of the cold weather, which left
bosses struggling to fund the site.
One of the birds has already died and fears are being raised more will
follow.
Experts say peacocks can only survive without food for about seven days.
Some members of the public have resorted to feeding the State-protected birds
themselves.
The Lupu Animal Breeding Farm in Zhejiang's Yuhuan County opened the
600-square-metre Peacock Garden in the park six years ago, the Beijing Daily
Messenger said yesterday.
But the contract expires on February 14 and the fate of the flock, which
feature both green and blue species, is now uncertain.
A member of staff from the breeding farm, who refused to give his name, said
ticket sales had plummeted since cold weather hit the capital city towards the
end of 2005.
Without the income, bosses have struggled to find the several hundred yuan,
or less than US$100, needed to provide food for the peacocks each day.
They also have to pay for feeders and rent charges for the site in park.
"The prices for peacocks have been falling lately, and we are unable to sell
these birds. We have had to close the garden, that's the only way out, and we
just cannot help it," said the employee.
It is not known whether they will renew the contract when it expires, he
added.
A worker from the Xiangshan Park's Management Division said because the
peacocks were privately owned they were unable to enter the site and feed the
birds.
Some Beijing residents have now taken it upon themselves to provide food for
the birds, the Beijing Daily Messenger said.
A woman surnamed Yuan said she travelled to the garden, despite needing to
change buses four times to get there, to bring one and a half kilograms of dried
food.
A young couple also fed some steamed bread to the peacocks and were happy to
see the birds "enjoy the food immensely," the Beijing Youth Daily said.
"If some of the tourists who visit the park every day can bring steamed bread
with them, the peacocks could survive hunger and the cold," the couple said,
adding that they would not like to see the birds being left uncared for due to a
business dispute.
Tests carried out on the peacock which died revealed its death was due to
hunger and an inflammation in the intestines, the Beijing Youth Daily reported
yesterday.
After medical checks showed it had nothing to do with bird flu, the bird was
buried.
Experts say the peacocks are facing the threat of death in a large scale, the
paper said.
The China News Service previously reported that the Beijing Municipal Bureau
of Parks ordered park staff to enclose all man-raised birds in the city's parks
since November 21 last year due to fears of bird flu. The Peacock Garden was
also closed temporarily, the report said.
(China Daily 01/13/2006 page3)
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