Famous peacocks and peahens โstolenโ from historic hotel
Dozens of peacocks and peahens, a beloved presence at a historic Art Deco hotel in Sacramento Delta, have vanished, with staff suspecting the birds were stolen.
The alarm was raised after a customer at the Ryde Hotel reported seeing two men on Sunday placing one of the distinctive birds into a cage on the back of a pickup truck.
A subsequent count by staff revealed only four of their exotic flock remained.
David Nielsen, the hotelโs general manager, expressed the profound distress felt by his team. “Weโre not sure why anyone would do anything like this, but the staff is absolutely heartbroken,” he said.
Authorities are now investigating the incident as a property crime. Sgt. Amar Gandhi, a spokesperson for the Sacramento County Sheriffโs Office, confirmed the male birds are valued at $2,000 each and the peahens at $1,000 apiece.
The birds had become a signature of the hotel, having reproduced significantly since the owner acquired an initial five 14 years ago to roam the grounds.
Staff fed them leftovers of fillet mignon, prime rib and salmon, and over time, the birds became tamer. They got used to people, and the employees began seeing them as pets, even naming some of them.
Rafe Goorwitch, the hotelโs catering coordinator, said he fed a group of about 15 peafowls twice every day. He named the biggest one Alibaba, Baba for short, because he would walk through the hotel like he owned the place.
โI joked with the owner that we worked for Baba because he would walk through the dinner rooms, the ballrooms and the garden with this attitude that he was the boss,โ Goorwitch said.
Peacocks tend to be aloof, but Baba “became like a dog,โ he said.
Since the news about the missing birds became public, people have been calling the hotel with tips and possible sightings, including reports of neighbors with new peacock pets, Nielsen said.
Hotel staff are hoping the birds are found and returned home. For now, the hotel has added better and more surveillance cameras, and there are plans to add more fencing.
โThey really meant a lot to us,โ Nielsen said.
