Overview
- Hotel staff discovered that 37 of the flock’s roughly 40 peacocks vanished over a four-day span earlier this week.
- Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office opened a felony-level probe after confirming six birds missing and noting each peacock’s value surpasses the state’s theft threshold.
- Employees fear the birds may have been taken for cockfighting or funneled into the black-market exotic-animal trade.
- A guest reported seeing two men cage and load a peacock into a pickup truck last Saturday, suggesting a targeted operation.
- The free-roaming peacocks, valued at $1,000 to $2,000 each, have been part of the Ryde Hotel’s California Delta heritage for over a generation.