BOISE, Idaho (KBOI) — If you take a walk in Kathryn Albertson Park, you can expect to see a lot of local wildlife, such as geese, squirrels, and deer. However, there have been some unexpected guests in the park recently: including two roosters and a golden pheasant.
"They just seem to appear," said Joe Lang, a habitat maintenance technician at the park.
Park managers say the birds are abandoned pets that have no place to go after their owners dump them. Lang says even though they haven't caused a fuss so far, an increase in non-native species can hurt the ecosystem.
"It's an invasive species so any of our native plants or anything...it could be eating those," Lang said. "(It could be) doing damage as far as our plant life or other animals."
Lang says this pet abandonment picks up after Easter, when people get rabbits or ducks as presents, but then realize they can't take care of them.
Letting pet birds run free is specifically outlawed in Boise city code. A violator can be charged with a misdemeanor and face up to six months in jail or up to a $300 fine.
The strange birds have caught the eye of birder and those that frequent the park.
"When we came in, my husband said, 'Well, something is over there,'" said Andrea Kingery, a Boise resident. "And I said 'It sounds like a peacock.' It was a screeching kind of noise."
Lang says the parks department has found a home for the roosters, but the golden pheasant, an exotic bird from northern China, will likely stay because it hasn't affected wildlife in the park.
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