Video: 'Vicious' Peacock Bites Man In NYC

NEW YORK CITY — The phones of Citizen users squawked late Wednesday with an only-in-New York alert: "Man Bitten by Vicious Bronx Peacock."

Really.

A viral video on Citizen shows a man, identified as Mike, who had his feathers ruffled in peacock attack near East 180th Street and East Tremont Avenue about 7:45 p.m.

"I thought I was buggin'," the man said in the video, recounting how he and others were outside smoking when they saw the bird.

"I said, yo, there goes a motherf------ peacock."

Once the peacock ran up a hill toward traffic, the man said they chased the bird to keep it safe. After the man trapped the peacock inside a gate, the feathered fowl grabbed his pants, he said.

"Then the motherf----- flew in a tree," he said. "I didn't know they fly."

Follow for updates: https://t.co/saVQg12gru
— Citizen NYC (@CitizenAppNYC) April 27, 2023

The video then shows a dim outline of the bird in a tree. Another man, who took the video, said the FDNY was on its way, presumably to rescue the bird.

FDNY officials didn't respond to Patch's request for comment as of publication.

The peacock was an escapee from the Bronx Zoo, where hundreds of those fan-tailed birds roam the grounds. It spent the night in a tree before it flew back to the zoo grounds, according to a statement by the Bronx Zoo.

"We kept an eye on the bird this morning as he started to move around at dawn and fully expected him to return to the zoo as he did," the statement reads.

"We had confidence in our knowledge of bird behavior to predict how he would behave if given the chance to do so without interference. We were confident in our staffs’ ability to handle the situation."

Predictably, New Yorkers had much to say about the man versus peacock fracas on Twitter.

"As a former @BronxZoo employee, I can almost guarantee he left the grounds," tweeted Assembly Member Kenny Burgos. "Plus they’re notorious assholes."

Peacock escaped from the Bronx Zoo and local residents named it Raul.

NYC BABY!
— thomas 🛠 IATSE STRIKE! (@t_NYC) April 27, 2023

So I have the citizens app for who knows what reason, and an alert came up saying a vicious peacock has escaped the Bronx zoo. I wish the very best to this peacock, and hope he gets to live his best life terrorizing New York.
— Bat They/Them Medic (@ScaryRebelBat) April 27, 2023