Peacock Back At Central Park Zoo A Day After Escaping To Fifth Avenue Luxury Building
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- The bird that flew the coop is back where it belongs.
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The peacock flew out of the Central Park Zoo Tuesday. The magnificent bird perched himself on the fifth floor window of a luxury apartment building on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan's tony Upper East Side and stayed there for about 20 hours.
Apparently the bird grew tired of the high-class digs this morning. It leaped from the ledge where it had been perched, and flew back to the zoo around 6:45 a.m.
"No one knew that peacocks could fly. Let alone over Fifth Avenue," one man told CBS 2's Kristen Thorne.
The peacocks at the zoo don't typically leave the open air aviary because they like to stay close to their food, but this one apparently had different plans.
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The bird had attracted a lot of attention from New Yorkers along Fifth Avenue.
"You just walk down the street and look up and 'Oh - hey, there's a big peacock sitting on a window sill,'" said Cassie Althreth of the Bronx.
"I've never seen a peacock on Fifth Avenue before," another resident said.
"He was looking for adventure, he was looking to find some new people and see what else is out there outside of the zoo," one New Yorker said.
Zookeepers opted not to try to open the window next to the bird for fear of startling it and causing it to plummet to the street below. That's also why they didn't try getting at it with a ladder.
"A thorough understanding of the peacock's natural behavior allowed for the successful planning of its recovery," Jeff Sailer, Central Park Zoo Director, said.
The peacock is just one of several recent animal escapees that have transfixed New Yorkers. Of course, there was the obligatory Twitter account too. Back in May, a peahen went on the lam from the Bronx Zoo. The peahen was following in the slithering tracks of the infamous Bronx Zoo cobra Mia.
Did you get to see the peacock? Is this great publicity for the Central Park Zoo? Sound off in our comments section below…
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