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 reported 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 community 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 revealed We re not sure why anyone would do anything like this but the staff is absolutely heartbroken Nielsen stated Officers are probing the circumstance as a property crime The male birds are valued at each and the peahens at each revealed 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 declared 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 specific of them Rafe Goorwitch the hotel s catering coordinator explained 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 reported Peacocks tend to be aloof but Baba became like a dog he noted Since the news about the missing birds became population people have been calling the hotel with tips and accomplishable sightings including reports of neighbors with new peacock pets Nielsen reported Hotel staff are hoping the birds are unveiled 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 commented Rodriguez informed from San Francisco