A wild peacock that suffered a serious injury in the neck in a fight with another peacock was rescued by officers attached to the Aryankavu Forest Range Office on Saturday morning.
After preliminary medical treatment at the Kazhuthurutty veterinary dispensary, the injured bird was referred to the District Veterinary Centre. Veterinary surgeon B. Aravind, who provided the medication at the DVC, said the bird, aged around 12 years, was out of danger but would need human attention for a couple of days for full recovery.
Forest Range Officer A.J. Ramesh Kumar said he received a call by 9 a.m. about the birds’ fight at the courtyard of a house near Paalaruvi and the resultant injury. Dr. Aravind said the bird suffered a dislocation of the cervical vertebra and an injury in the tail, which had to be sutured. It was provided with a cervical collar by modifying a baby socks.
Forest officers Vikraman Pillai and Anson who brought the bird to the DVC said that it was calm during the 90-km journey from Aryankavu. Since the DVC did not have in-patient facilities the Forest officers took the bird back. Mr. Ramesh Kumar said that since the range office lacked facilities to take care of the bird it was likely to be taken to the Thiruvananthapuram zoo on Sunday. In the last couple of years an appreciable growth in the wild peacock population had been noted along the Kulathupuzha-Thenmala-Aryankavu-Achencoil belt which has thick forests.
