Foul blow to peafowl breeding scheme

PETALING JAYA: A project to bring back the endangered green peafowl has been dealt a blow, when six of the birds died of Newcastle disease at a private breeder’s farm in Janda Baik, Pahang, four weeks ago.

PHEASANT SURPRISE: Two green peafowls which are part of the project to bring these birds back into the Malaysian forest lowlands.

Locally called merak hijau, the birds were part of a flock of eight birds under a captive-breeding agreement between the breeder and the Wildlife and National Park department (Perhilitan) since early last year. Sources said the two remaining birds would be considered “spoiled goods” as they would be carriers of the disease even if they survived and would no longer be viable for the breeding programme. There are two other breeding centres in the country, one in Jemaluang, Johor, and the other in Sungkai, Perak – both run by Perhilitan. A total of 30 green peafowls, produced by breeder stocks in Europe, were delivered by the World Pheasant Association to Perhilitan last year to kick off the captive breeding programme.