Dozens of peacocks and peahens go missing from historic Northern California hotel

By TERRY CHEA and OLGA R RODRIGUEZ Associated Press WALNUT GROVE Dozens of peacocks and peahens known for wandering the grounds of a historic Art Deco hotel in the Sacramento Delta are missing and the hotel staff disclosed Tuesday they believe the birds were stolen Related Articles Rescuers corral ailing sea lion in Marin County neighborhood Los Gatos teenagers use photos website to track wildlife and educate residents A day in the life of a Bay Area bird-watcher It s a movement Trump administration axes plans to kill invasive owls in Northern California Mountain lion spotted outside gate of East Bay residence After a customer at the Ryde Hotel mentioned Sunday seeing two men grabbing one of the birds and putting it inside a cage on the bed of a pickup truck the staff did a count and realized only four of their exotic birds remained David Nielsen the hotel s general manager commented We re not sure why anyone would do anything like this but the staff is absolutely heartbroken Nielsen commented Bureaucrats are studying the matter as a property crime The male birds are valued at each and the peahens at each disclosed Sgt Amar Gandhi a spokesperson at the Sacramento County Sheriff s Office He didn t share any additional information The owner purchased five of the birds to wander the grounds years ago They reproduced to the point that they became a signature of the hotel Nielsen explained Peacocks are common in Art Nouveau design Staff fed them leftovers of filet mignon prime rib and salmon and over time the birds became tamer They got used to people and the employees began seeing them as pets even naming selected of them Rafe Goorwitch the hotel s catering coordinator disclosed he fed a group of about peafowls twice every day He named the biggest one Alibaba Baba for short because he would walk through the hotel like he owned the place I joked with the owner that we worked for Baba because he would walk through the dinner rooms the ballrooms and the garden with this attitude that he was the boss Goorwitch declared Peacocks tend to be aloof but Baba became like a dog he disclosed Since the news about the missing birds became residents people have been calling the hotel with tips and feasible sightings including reports of neighbors with new peacock pets Nielsen declared Hotel staff are hoping the birds are detected and returned home For now the hotel has added better and more surveillance cameras and there are plans to add more fencing They really meant a lot to us Nielsen noted Rodriguez announced from San Francisco