THE famous peacocks of York's Museum Gardens are under threat.

One of the two male birds living in the gardens has been found dead.

Numbers of the birds, whose colourful plumage delights visitors and locals alike, have been dwindling in recent years.

There was a peahen and a chick in the gardens last year, but they moved away, leaving just the two males.

News of their decline brought a mixed response.

John Shannon, the chairman of York Civic Trust, said: "I think they are a fascinating feature of the Museum Gardens, and those responsible should seek to ensure their continued presence.

"They are a great attraction to our many visitors. York must be one of the few cities in England where they are kept.

"In springtime the display of the peacocks' plumage is a very worthy sight, so I hope steps may be taken to increase their number."

People using Museum Gardens expressed disappointment.

David and Kay Hyde, from Driffield, said their absence was a "terrible shame". Mr Hyde added: "I thought they were quite an attraction, really. It used to be nice when you came into the park." A York resident, who did not wish to be named, said the birds were colourful and lovely to look at, though she wondered what nearby residents thought about the noise they made.

John Hampshire, the Yorkshire Philosophical Society's liaison officer with City of York Council, said the society would raise the issue at the next meeting of the Yorkshire Museums Committee.

He said the peacocks had certainly been in the gardens for 70 years. When the society put the gardens and the Yorkshire Museum into trust in the early 1960s the custodian responsibility for them was put in the hands of the local authority. But the curator of the Yorkshire Museum, Paul Howard, said it had never fed or housed the birds.

He said that to be happy a peacock needed a harem of six peahens - so sustaining two peacocks in the gardens would need a total population of 14 to 15.

When peacock numbers were higher - though never at that level - the museum would get at least five calls a day complaining about the noise they made, and their straying on to nearby roads and even into shops.

They also scratched up plants, in what was a botanical garden.

"It's a shame they've gone, but I don't know whether the pros outweigh the cons," he said.

Do you have any photographs or memories of the Museum Garden peacocks? What do you think about them ? Write to the newsdesk at the Evening Press, 76/86 Walmgate, York YO1 9YN; e-mail newsdesk@ycp.co.uk; fax 01904 612853 or phone 01904 653051.

Updated: 12:29 Saturday, February 24, 2001