PUNTA MARINA — Ravenna city council has enlisted Clama, a voluntary animal rights association, to protect a growing population of peacocks that has settled in the streets of Punta Marina since the 2020 Covid lockdown. The birds, which long inhabited the pine forest behind the seaside town, began roaming freely during the months of confinement and have remained.

The peacock population was estimated at 10 in 2018, rising to 40 by 2023, and stands at about 120 currently. Some residents provided food to the birds during the 2020 lockdown, which encouraged them to return to the town. An attempt to relocate the peacocks in 2022 was opposed. Ravenna city council has grappled with how to manage the population in recent years before settling on the arrangement with Clama.

The peacocks have made their home in the gardens of abandoned properties and perch on rooftops, fences, or peek out from trees. They navigate traffic and sometimes tap their beaks on parked car windows after seeing their reflections. One peacock was observed leaping over the gate of a block of flats and defecating on the entrance steps.

"Each time I come to Francesco's home, I tread on peacock poo outside. It's unhygienic; the peacocks need to be contained," said Marco, a local resident. A local police officer said reports of an "invasion" of peacocks forcing residents away due to a public health threat were wildly exaggerated.

Clama has produced leaflets and installed signs instructing residents and tourists not to feed the birds. People who feed the peacocks could be fined, a volunteer with the association said. "We need to try to live with the animals instead of making them victims of our choices – they didn't choose to come here, we brought them here and so must respect them," said Cristina Franzoni, a volunteer with Clama.

Ornithologist Rosario Balestrieri described the conditions that have sustained the population. "The pine forest serves as a preferred habitat and nesting refuge but supplementary feeding actively provided by the local population has encouraged steady population growth," Balestrieri said.

Peacocks are native to India, and populations are well established in parts of Europe, especially in England and Spain. The birds appear in Byzantine mosaics in nearby Ravenna, and over centuries were kept as status symbols in the gardens of wealthy residents of Emilia-Romagna.