Aviary ruffles some feathers

A peacock behind the wire at the aviary in Masterton’s Queen Elizabeth Park. PHOTO/JESSICA MORRIS

JESSICA MORRIS

The future of Queen Elizabeth Park’s aviary has been called into question, with Masterton district councillor Chris Peterson saying it may not be something the council wants to encourage long-term.

“I think as a country, we’re moving away from [a time] where we have birds in captivity.

“We maybe need to have a bit of a think about it instead of just not approaching it as a case of ‘what was, always will be’.”

He said while the current captivity-raised birds were here to stay, the aviary may not be encouraged in the future.

“We probably wouldn’t want to be expanding on the aviary or looking at perpetuating it over the longer term.”

Peterson said he had faced questions from members of the public surrounding the future of the aviary, and whether it should be continued.

“It has come up over my time on council a number of times.”

“It’s quite right that someone asks the question, and we shouldn’t just go on with what we do now without some thought about it.”

SPCA senior animal welfare inspector Ben Lakomy said he had inspected the aviary last month after a call of concern from a member of the public, but found it to be in good order.

“I’m aware that there are some members of the community that don’t like the aviary.”

“Different people hold different views about different things.”

From an SPCA perspective, Lakomy said the aviary was compliant with the animal welfare act.

“Overall, the aviary is not a concern to the SPCA.”

The aviary contains two peacocks, a range of poultry and a rabbit.

Feeding of the aviary’s inhabitants is carried out council park contractor Recreational Services, as is the collection of eggs.