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Escaped peacock caught, returned to Magnetic Hill Zoo

MONCTON, NB — A peacock that was on the run from zookeepers for a week after flying the coop has been returned to the Magnetic Hill Zoo.

The escapee dashed from the Moncton zoo and poked around neighbours yards scrounging for food.

People living on the Indian Mountain Road got quite the surprise when they saw a young peacock roaming around.

“He’d go over to their basement window and keep looking in the window, looking at himself,” said Debbie Hudson.

“My neighbour had told me it was at her son’s house up the road a little further and yesterday her and I were out for a walk and we saw [another neighbour], with a bag of croutons in her hand. He was walking down the side of the road, she would throw him a crouton and he’d run and get it.”
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Escapes like this are not uncommon, says the zoo’s manager, but the bird got a little further away than normal.

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“I think, for whatever reason, whether he was disoriented or what, he got quite a ways away from the zoo and my understanding is that they just caught him and brought him back this morning,” said Bruce Dougan.

Peafowl roam freely around the zoo. They don’t tend to leave zoo grounds but when they do, they always come back, says the zoo’s Animal Care Foreman Jamie Carson.

They know where the food is, he said.

“He was a little further than normal. We did check it out a few days ago to make sure our guy was okay before he made it back. Now, he’s safe and sound.” Indian Mountain Road is about 6.5 km away from the zoo. But with people keeping tabs on his whereabouts, and a couple attempts at catching him, the escape artist is back in captivity.

The peacock will be held inside for a couple days while the zoo monitors his health, and then he’ll join the rest of the zoo’s collection.

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