THE KLOOF and Highway SPCA Inspectorate has recently been inundated with phone calls about peacocks wandering into residential areas, parks and business premises.
The public has expressed its concern that these birds are lost and will not be able to find their way back home on their own.
According to Barbara Laubscher, fundraising and marketing manager at the SPCA, summer is their breeding season.
“Peacocks and peahens roost in the top of high trees at night as they feel safe there. Experts have reported seeing peacocks and peahens fly up into trees of 30 meters high.
“Although the peacocks and peahens have more of a gliding motion than normal flight pattern, they can travel quite far. In tree-rich areas, they can travel a few kilometres through a glide-flying motion from tree to tree,” she said.
During breeding season, peacocks especially travel quite far during the day and then return home to roost around sundown,” she said.
“When encountering a peacock, please do not try to catch it. The birds get stressed quite easily and may harm themselves in the process. If there is no food in the area, the peacock will soon fly to other areas and eventually return to its home,” Laubscher cautioned.
If a peacock or peahen is injured, it may take up to four trained people to catch it humanely, especially if it is still able to fly.
“If anyone encounters a peacock or peahen that appears healthy, just let it be. When it feels threatened by dogs or movement in the area it will fly off.
If anyone encounters any injured birds or baby birds that have fallen out of the nest or have been abandoned by parents, regardless of species, phone the Kloof and Highway SPCA,” she added.
Contact the SPCA on 031 764 1212/3 or 073 335 9322 (after-hours emergency line).
