Lonely peacock starts new life at animal sanctuary

The peacock was safely trapped and removed by volunteer sisters Rosie (l) and Ciara (r) O'Hare from Dartford Animal Rescue

A peacock who had made his home in a residential area has been safely trapped and removed to begin a new life at an animal sanctuary.

The bird, who locals had named Sartaj, had been spotted in Gravesend, Kent, for at least six months.

Volunteers from Dartford Animal Rescue were called in when Sartaj's calls to attract a mate became too loud.

He was tempted down using recordings of the calls of a peahen and is now living in a rescue centre in Ashford, Kent.

Sisters Rosie and Ciara O'Hare were the volunteers who lured Sartaj into captivity.

Ciara said: "We’ve got lots of experience rescuing water birds so we thought we’d apply the same logic.

"It was very much larger than we were expecting but similar to a goose, so I tried to employ some of the same strategies that we’d use when catching wild geese or swans.

"After he hopped on a few roofs, sheds and fences, we managed to get him down into an area where we had enough people to block all the exits and we could approach whilst he was nice and calm."

Sartaj had made himself at home in Gravesend

Rosie said: "He happened to walk close enough to me to get him secured before we wrapped him safely and securely and got him calmly into an Ikea bag which is a good transport.

"We were told by local people they’ve been feeding him for a long time and we knew they were very comfortable with him and enjoyed him being there."

Sartaj's new home is the Retreat Farm Animal Sanctuary, where he has settled in alongside some peahens.

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