2 peacocks that escaped Philadelphia Zoo found, search for last continues

Two of the four peacocks that escaped from the Philadelphia Zoo bound for I-76 were located unharmed Friday, a day after another bird was found dead, while the search for the last peacock continues.

The birds were first spotted walking on the Schuylkill Expressway around 8:30 p.m. Wednesday. State police arrived and shut down two lanes of traffic on the highway, causing backups for miles. Police said they managed to get the birds off the highway but were unable to capture them.

Lombardo said Friday afternoon that two of the remaining birds were located near the equestrian center in Fairmount Park after a passerby contacted zoo officials.

The zoo said the flock roams freely on its grounds, and is cared for by veterinary staff. Officials said the birds sometimes venture past zoo gates, but they normally return home on their own. The zoo is moving its other young peacocks with the two found Friday while it now looks at "longer-term potential changes with the free-ranging peacock flock," Lombardo said.

Zoo officials ask anyone who spots the remaining bird — who does not have the "bright plumage and long tail of an adult male" because of his young age — not to approach it. Any spotters should instead email peacocks@phillyzoo.org with where and when the bird was seen.

Lombardo previously said that the search could "take possibly days or weeks to complete."

Wednesday's incident was hardly the first of its kind for the Philadelphia region. In April, officials euthanized a coyote that was captured while hiding under a dumpster in Southwest Center City. It's not clear if that was the same coyote captured and released in Mayfair just days prior.

And before that? A cow named Stormy made a run from an Old City nativity scene back in December — twice — while a bull that escaped a Kensington slaughterhouse in November 2016 was killed after winding up on I-76.

This article includes information from the Associated Press.