Indian Peacock Conservation

In attempt to conserve the peacock population in India, the country has in fact protected the bird by law. Declared the country's official national bird in 1963, the peacock is depicted throughout Indian culture in art, music and poetry. It is estimated that there are over 100,000 peacocks in India but although it is illegal to poach for peacock meat in India, it is unfortunately not in surrounding areas of South Asia. In countries like China for example, there is huge demand and market for peacock rearing and poaching. Moreover, peacocks are not only poached for their meat but also their vibrant feathers. In effort to try to eliminate the illegal plucking of peacock feathers, India has developed ways in which one can tell whether peacock feathers had shed naturally or had been plucked. Finally on the contrary, peacocks can also be seen as a nuisance in damaging crops or in accidentally poisoning themselves by eating crop pesticides. As we have seen in my first post on peacocks in local neighborhoods, peacocks can also be seen as a nuisance when damaging gardens, making noise or scratching cars. Due to their nuisance, some cities (including those in India) have developed peacock management programs in order to try to prevent such nuisances and teach their residents to deal with the peacock presence in a way that helps conserve their population rather than destroy it.

Sources: Wikipedia