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From: Kermit
(Wed Sep 7 19:30:19 2005)
Most of these peafowl's recent ancestors were donated to Yunnan from the Bhutan Royal family's population of
wild hybrids known there as " Diamond THunderbolt Dragonbird". Once naturalized in the Buddhist sanctuary gardens of Kunming they have self-selected mates of endemic wild green peafowl of either or both Yunnan species, unknown in western aviculture, and also possibly with wild Indian peafowl brought in from Bangledesh. The resultant progeny are a mixed bag, surviving with many wild predators and severe weather.
They may prove disasterous to wild green peafowl population but as of the time of writing this, the hybrid population has never strayed far from the Buddhist gardens. Strays that wander into the surrounding forests probably attract natural predators of the wild green peafowl which prove better suited for life in the native habitat. The two most serious predator classes are eagles/ eagle owls and large cats. Green peafowl are better adapted to survive encounters with these predators than the hybrids. Disease is probably more of a danger given the population of the semi captive flocks of hybrids in relatively close proximity with historical populations of Yunnan green peafowl.
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