{"id":35389,"date":"2024-08-29T03:50:57","date_gmt":"2024-08-29T07:50:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/world\/the-peacocks-that-have-been-given-the-freedom-of-a-city\/29\/08\/2024\/"},"modified":"2024-08-29T03:50:57","modified_gmt":"2024-08-29T07:50:57","slug":"the-peacocks-that-have-been-given-the-freedom-of-a-city","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/world\/the-peacocks-that-have-been-given-the-freedom-of-a-city\/29\/08\/2024\/","title":{"rendered":"The peacocks that have been given the freedom of a city"},"content":{"rendered":"

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The peacocks of Dunfermline have officially been granted the Freedom of the City after laying claim to its parks and streets for over a century.<\/p>\n

The brightly coloured birds were introduced to Pittencrieff Park in 1905 when philanthropist Andrew Carnegie asked his friend Henry Beveridge to bring them back to his hometown from India.<\/p>\n

Beveridge is believed to have returned with two breeding pairs – and there have been peacocks in the Fife city ever since.<\/p>\n

Dunfermline was granted city status in 2022 – and the peacocks are the first residents to officially receive the honour.<\/p>\n

When they first arrived in Dunfermline the birds were known for regularly stopping traffic on the High Street and were even spotted wandering about nearby villages.<\/p>\n

But without anyone assigned to look after them, they had a precarious existence.<\/p>\n

That changed nearly 10 years ago when Suzi Ross was asked by her brother, who was park manager at the time, to keep an eye on them.<\/p>\n

A new sanctuary was opened in 2016 as part of a wider \u00a31.6m project to restore Pittencrieff Park to its former glory and the population has grown ever since.<\/p>\n

Peacocks in Pittencrieff Park<\/a> is staffed by volunteers and funded by public donations, and Suzi now has the grand job title of “lead peafowl warden”.<\/p>\n

Currently there are 21 peafowl – a term that encompasses both male and female birds – including eight peachicks, four of which hatched earlier this month.<\/p>\n

It costs \u00a3150 a week to feed them all.<\/p>\n

Freedom of the City is an ancient honour bestowed by city authorities – but it may not make much practical difference to the peacocks who are already free to go pretty much where they please during the day.<\/p>\n

“We do have two birds in particular, Andrew and Hamish, who do like to go wandering,” senior aviary team member Carlyn Cane told BBC Scotland News.<\/p>\n

“They do occasionally wander onto the road and stop traffic. But all we ask is just for people to be very aware when that happens and let us know.”<\/p>\n

Most of the birds choose to stay close to the park. They return at night to the sanctuary to be fed before they fly off to roost in the park’s trees.<\/p>\n

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