Approval Given for Removal of 9 Peafowl by Trapping
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PALOS VERDES ESTATES — The City Council has unanimously approved a recommendation from City Manager Gordon Siebert that the Espinosa Circle peafowl flock be reduced by up to nine birds.
Beginning this month, residents in that area who want an annoying bird removed from private property can pay a trap rental fee of $10 to the city. The Southern California Humane Society will oversee the trapping and the offending bird will be relocated to a wildlife refuge.
Currently, there are 36 birds in the Espinosa Circle flock.
The council decided that no birds will be trapped from the Malaga Cove Library area until a more accurate census of that flock is taken. The council directed that an accurate count be made before Oct. 1 and is seeking volunteers to count birds.
Martin Rigby, a research analyst with expertise in environmental impacts, told the council last week that removing nine male birds from the Espinosa Circle flock would not reduce its viability. Rigby, who grew up on Espinosa Circle, began studying the peafowl flocks in February at the request of Friends of the Peacocks.
The birds are considered a nuisance by many who live in the two peafowl habitats of this affluent city. While the birds are not native to the Palos Verdes Peninsula, they have lived here for about 60 years, having been introduced by an early property developer.
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