Peacocks skip school to check out chicks

10:22am Thursday 7th April 2005

Three frisky peacocks looking for some female companionship led Croydon’s authorities on a wild goose chase when they escaped from their home at Whitgift School.

The exotic birds had police, RSPCA inspectors and residents in a flutter when they made several escapes from the school in Haling Park and were spotted in locations all around Croydon last month.

The last of the three 18-month-old Javan peafowl males was reunited with Whitgift’s grounds manager Ken Ennings on Sunday.

Mr Ennings said: “This doesn’t happen very often. We’ve got three Javan males whose tails aren’t yet fully grown – in short this means they are teenagers and we all know what teenagers are like.

“They went off in search of female company - they obviously didn’t think much of the peahens we have here at Whitgift.

“All have returned now though. I doubt it will happen again though, probably because they realise now there are no more females outside the school’s grounds.

“Once they reach the age of two and they have full feathers, their wings will be clipped.” The RSPCA confirmed it received several reports of peacock sightings in and around South Croydon and said one resident attempted to catch one of the peacocks himself with a net.

Whitgift School has had peafowl living in its grounds for more than 30 years.

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