Peacock's plight ruffles feathers
By Don Descoteau

Weekend Edition Newsgroup Vancouver Island
Aug 19 2005

Niagara the old white peacock is alive and doing fine in his Beacon Hill Park home, his plight perhaps helping birds that get injured in future.
The somewhat tame bird, a rare albino said to be almost 20 years old - they can live to upwards of 30 years - is rather frail but nearly fully recovered from a badly infected right foot that forced it to have one toe amputated, said assistant parks operations manager Paul LeComte.
"This time of year, the males are all pretty aggressive with one another," he said, stopping short of saying Niagara suffered the injury in a fight with another bird.
After it spent two nights at a local veterinary hospital earlier this month, the bird was kept under wraps and watched closely inside the police barn inside the petting zoo's enclosure in the park, LeComte said. City parks workers, with help from volunteers at the petting zoo, administered painkillers for four days and antibiotics for seven to stop any further infection.
"He's probably got a permanent limp," said zoo assistant manager Marcia Koenders, whose family operates the non-profit Beacon Hill Children's Farm. "But I saw him fighting with another peacock this morning, so he must be back to normal."
The peacocks and peahens that live in the park are the responsibility of the city. Parks crews provide them with grain and in general, keep an eye on them.
But Reisa Stone, the woman who raised the alarm over the injured bird last month, remains angry the bird was "limping around for two weeks" before it was attended to.
She argued that city crews can't keep an eye on the birds all the time and said petting zoo staff, given their proximity to the birds' main feeding area, should keep an eye on them and take quicker action when noticing severe injuries.
Koenders said about a week passed from the time they noticed the bird to the time it was captured and taken to the vet.
She said since the birds do fly around the park and are generally skittish of humans, it can be difficult to corner them to determine whether an injury requires medical care. However, she said she now has a contact at the city to call in case a peacock or peahen is injured.
Responding to Stone's claims that their whole operation should be under scrutiny over the peacock situation, Koenders said "We keep our eyes open and appreciate the public letting us know when they see an injured animal."
City parks operations manager Mike Matthews said he was "disappointed" the city wasn't contacted sooner about the bird but said he planned to have a conversation with the zoo operators to clarify the protocol. He said the situation would not prompt his department to more closely scrutinize the zoo operations in terms of care of animals.
"We don't get involved, we're not experts in that," he said.
Having dealt with the petting zoo for six years, Matthews said it appears they take good care of their animals. "We see their year-end statement and see the kind of vet fees they pay every year."

Sharon Tiffin/Weekend Edition
Recovering peacock, despite loss of a toe, struts around Beacon Hill Park Wednesday.