Zoo Peacocks Escape, Roam the Streets Causing Trouble

It’s the wacky animal caper that we didn’t know we needed this Thursday afternoon. Turns out that four wily peacocks from the Philadelphia Zoo decided to fly the coop, so to speak, and escaped from zoo grounds early this morning. The quartet of beautifully-plumed fowl were seen creating a traffic disturbance on a major highway by strutting the busy lanes like a catwalk.

The flock of peacocks are allowed to roam the zoo freely, so they didn’t have to circumvent any kind of pen or enclosure to get outside. They just… walked out. The zoo’s representatives say that this has happened before, but that the birds seldom are gone for long and that they always come back. It’s unknown what tempted the peacocks to venture all the way to Interstate 76, where they stirred up a proper ruckus.

According to U.S. News and World Report: “The officials were working Thursday with police after the birds took a stroll along Interstate 76 around 8:30 p.m. Wednesday. State police arrived and shut down two lanes of traffic on the highway, causing backups for miles.”

The search for the peacocks started early this morning, as animal curators and police combed the zoo looking for the birds, checking common hang-out spots where they like to roost. They also examined areas that the peacocks might have tried to explore.

Police on the highway were able to successfully shoo the animals out of the way of traffic, but they couldn’t round them up. Zoo officials say that people should not approach the beautiful birds, as they are in an unfamiliar environment and might act aggressively out of stress. It’s expected that it could take days or even weeks to bring the peacocks home. The Philadelphia police will continue to work with zoo employees to find the animals and get them back where they belong.