Mackenzie peacock survey results

THE RESULTS

The results of the Mackenzie Peacock Attitudes Survey are in, and they might not be what you expected.

Council undertook the survey to gain a better understanding of which side was in the minority.

Unfortunately, that’s neither side.

I sent out 139 surveys to residents on the western side of Mount Petrie Road, from which 66 responses were received.

The breakdown is as follows.

It is clear that residents are evenly split between doing nothing and taking some kind of action to manage the birds.

Of the 50% ‘Take Action’ votes, results were again split with 29% in favour of undertaking selective culling and 21% in favour of complete removal of the colony.

YOUR FEEDBACK

Despite this result, your qualitative feedback was invaluable in describing both the impacts and benefits that the birds have been having.

Some key takeaways include:

• Feedback confirmed the detrimental impact the colony is having on the welfare of residents in specific streets, and conversely, the value of the peafowl to the suburb of Mackenzie as a whole.

• There is a substantial Indian community in Mackenzie, many of whom claimed they purchased a home in the suburb primarily because of the peafowl. Peacocks are the national bird of India and there’s a great deal of cultural significance placed on them.

• Additionally, many residents were adamant that if the peafowl were to be controlled, non-lethal methods such as relocation be used instead of culling

OUTCOMES

Considering the split survey result, I have asked Council officers to develop a Management Plan for the peafowl colony.

Council will now formulate a plan to maintain and track the peafowl population in Mackenzie, while lowering the number of birds to a more sustainable level, using non-lethal means such as relocation.

The good news for peacock supporters is that Council received many offers from residents in other communities with peafowl populations who would like to take them.

We are confident that by working with our community sector partners, any birds that need to be relocated can find a home.

So, there’s a silver lining for the birds in all of this.

Work on this plan will begin immediately and I will update residents again next year once we are ready to roll it out.

ORIGINAL LETTER AND SURVEY SENT TO RESIDENTS ON 13 NOVEMBER, 2019