Swiss zoo recaptures escapee peacocks

Peacocks are back at the zoo after a trip to Basel neighbourhoods Keystone-SDA

Two peacocks that escaped the Lange Erlen animal park in Basel have returned to the zoo after spending several days wandering the adjacent neighbourhoods.

The colourful fowl were caught and returned on Monday, the Erlen Association Basel confirmed. Over the past few days, the cantonal police have received many calls from worried passers-by who were surprised to see the two exotic birds in the centre of the city. On Friday, the police reassured people on their WhatsApp channel that the peacocks were fine and that it was not an emergency.

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The manager of the Lange Erlen zoo told public broadcaster SRF on Monday that the two peacocks had left the premises at the beginning of April after a lengthy bird flu quarantine. The two birds can move freely in the zoo and beyond. It is unusual that the animals have been away from the zoo for a longer period of time this time, the zoo manager said.

Adapted from German by AI/ac

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