News: Peahen Missing from Bronx Zoo
(Long Island, N.Y.) A three-foot-long female peafowl escaped restraints, just months after the Bronx Zoo made headlines for claiming that one of its Egyptian Cobras went missing from captivity in the zoo’s Reptile House. The cobra, who had been named ‘MIA’ for “missing in action” by an interactive naming contest, attracted a band of Facebook and Twitter followers during its weeklong parade from capture. Fans had even suggested that the snake make an appearance on a late night television show.
A similar response has been given to the peahen, which is the term for peafowl that distinguishes females from peacocks. This peahen, who is yet to be named, is green and shows up the cobra with a greater spirit for adventure. City goers have spotted her at numerous locations, including the ledge of an elevated section of the Bronx River Parkway.
Pictures have been taken of her perched on the top of a home and posing with one of the neighborhood cats. The interaction between the animals was uneventful until the peahen flew and the cat darted. She had been missing for a day and a night when zoo workers found her in a garage after being spotted near East 180th Street and Morris Park Avenue.
Zoo officials say that she is safe and resting comfortably in the Wildlife Health Center. Prior to her rediscovery she had been caught running through traffic and visiting a local subway station. City goers watched her eat a discarded hamburger bun for a makeshift meal.
Followers of this case wanted to know exactly how far she was able to wander. The zoo’s director didn’t reply, but simply informed the concerned public that she was being examined by vets and in good health. He also informed that there will be no changes to the policy that allows the peafowl to roam freely after some city goers questioned whether the supervision of the zoo’s birds has become too relaxed.
The zoo, which is run by the Wildlife Conservation Society, tends to believe that escaped peafowl will want to return home and learn never to leave again by the setbacks of their excursions. Disturbance to the peahen would have only caused her to venture further from home. Peafowl do not pose any sort of threat to humans, and zoo officials urge city goers to avoid following and harassing the animals.
Several attempts of zoo workers to capture the peahen had failed before she was finally brought into custody. Reports stated that other failed attempts came from three zoo workers who used nets to aid in her recapture. The renegade fowl was able to capture over a thousand followers on Twitter before finally being found.
One of the jokes came from a postal worker who commented about the occupational hazard of running into all sorts of animals during her rounds in the area because of the zoo’s lapse in control. Some city goers felt as if they had been watching Animal Planet and were concerned about potential poachers or animal hoarders. A Twitter update talked about the peahen’s intention to make a nest out of Donald Trump’s hair.
