JOHN Shannon, chairman of York Civic Trust, remarks that "peacocks have been part of the York scene... for many years, bringing pleasure to citizens and visitors alike with their colourful display," and his committee members have voted unanimously to re-stock York's Museum Gardens with six more (March 28).
The supporters of this proposal are willing to put tropical birds into a hostile environment where proper care is unavailable, where they can wander out into traffic, where residents are disturbed by their noise, and where the damage they do creates extra work for park staff. The justification for this turmoil being that they would occasionally provide a few seconds of amusement for passers-by.
These birds are native to Southern Asia, where climate and food sources are radically different from ours. They are not adaptable to conditions in Northern Europe, where, unless they are given adequate shelter, suitable food, and regular veterinary care, their health quickly deteriorates. Several of the York peafowl have gone missing and to risk subjecting more birds to the same unknown fate would be irresponsible.
The only acceptable course of action is to permanently veto the introduction of peafowl into the Museum Gardens, having first re-housed the one remaining bird in an appropriate sanctuary where there are others of the same species.
M Layram,
Vanbrugh College,
Heslington, York.
Updated: 10:43 Wednesday, April 04, 2001
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