Saskatoon zoo says peacocks going to greener pastures for ethical reasons
Zoo manager says birds had to be locked in cages for up to 7 months in winter
There are no more peacocks at Saskatoon's Forestry Farm Park and Zoo following a decision to move them somewhere better equipped to house them year-round.
Manager Tim Sinclair-Smith said it was an ethical decision based on what happens when the birds aren't allowed outside.
He said the peacocks roamed around in the summer, but were locked in cages for up to seven months in the winter.
According to Sinclair-Smith, the zoo would have had to spend $500,000 to build a winter facility.
Officials chose instead to move the birds in the early spring to facilities with better housing such as zoos in Calgary and Toronto.
Sinclair-Smith said employees at the facility felt the money could be better spent improving the zoo's habitats for endangered species.