Dragon Birds

Feb 21-

Peacocks or Nokhune as they are known here, are protected and adored by Thai society because of their affiliation with the Buddha.  The king has allocated land and funds to protect the peacocks.  Images of peacocks are ubiquitous in Thailand, and it is understood by all Thai people that no harm is to come to them.  Despite this, the conservation effort is a little misguided.  Encroachment of their habitat and some poaching threaten the species and poor breeding practices threaten the sub-species of these elegant and royal birds.

An old friend of mine is considering making a donation to the Thai Royal Wildlife Conservation effort.  He sent me to a man named Freidrich Esser, a transplanted German fellow, who has moved here to Thailand to dedicate his life to the peacocks.  Jeremy and I are here on assignment to check out Fritz (as we call him) and try and get some photos of peacocks in flight, framed by only sky and no foliage that will help bolster my friend’s effort to make Thai Green Peacocks a flagship species.

Fritz and his Thai wife, Pranni, met us at our hotel. Neither of them speaks English very well, but that is how they communicate with each other.  To have conversation with them we must choose words out of their limited vocabulary.  But it is clear to me that Fritz is passionate and knowledgeable about the birds he is here to study.  After our introduction, they took us out for some top-notch vegetarian food and brought us out to their home.

They live in a small town about 20km outside Chaing Mai called Doi Saket.  Their house is on the edge of town in Peacock territory.  Peacocks favor jungle, where they roost, with some farmland, where they get some food, and water.  Fritz has built aviaries all around his house and lovingly keeps a few pheasants and some other little birds in his clean and well-built cages.  He has plans to attempt to breed peacocks here, to be released into the wild, when the government permits come through.  He has diverted river water to create a pond in the back yard, attracting wild birds as they fly to and from their roosts.

Fritz tells me he has been studying birds for 30 years and can identify all the subspecies of galliforms.  Part of the conservation effort involves the genetic purity of the Thai Royal Green Peacocks.  Because of a lack of science and understanding, the Thai Wildlife Department workers are interbreeding the Green Peacocks (pavo muticus) with the Indian Peacocks (pavo cristatus)  The result would be loss of original sub-species in the wild.  After this home-tour we leave to go out into the field to observe the Royal breeding ground where this is occurring.

There is a population of wild Green Peacocks that live in the area surrounding the Huy Hong Khrai Royal Development Study Center.  The park is home to the breeding grounds and a little zoo of sorts that has there on display some of the creatures that share the habitat with the peacocks.  Wild pigs, Barking deer, Samba deer, Gibbons, Silver Pheasants and Binturong are some of the animals held in cages here.  The wild peacocks come from their roosts in the jungle to enjoy a free lunch, of sorts, provided by the keepers of the zoo.

Fritz had the peacocks already staked out.  He goes everyday to observe them in the park.  Anticipating our arrival, and knowing our objective, Fritz had been leaving seed out for the peacocks in an area near the breeding ground and near the roost.    We were very lucky this first day and instantly come across a dozen peacocks drinking at a little pond.  From this spot Fritz has seen them take flight across the pond to go feed at the little zoo.

It turns out to be quite a challenge to take pictures of Peacocks in flight.  They are pheasants, which lay eggs on the ground, and though they do roost high up in trees, they get there by taking short flights up the branches.  It is their habit to stay concealed in the forest, where the green leaves camouflage them.  So it may be that Huy Hong Khrai is the only place where peacock flight can be easily witnessed.

Peacocks like to eat bugs, fruit seeds and greens.  Those foods are left in the enclosures for the animals at the zoo, so the wild peacocks can swoop in to take their fill along side the captured animals and then leave as they wish.  We waited by the bank of the pond, as afternoon turned to evening and Jeremy was able to snap some photos of the birds as they flew over the still water.The birds were aware of us, and moved away as we made attempts to get near.  But Fritz knows their habits, and we quietly waited to watch, in another area of the park, as the birds came from the jungle to eat what seed he left, crossed a road and made a short flight over the pond, to their island roost thick with bamboo and other trees.

Later we went to the territory of another male peacock and watched him make the short flights up into the trees as evening turned to night.  It is beautiful to watch these birds in nature.  They are so bright, large and loud, and yet the display is not for us; they are that way for each other and the verdant green of their feathers that we so admire are only to allow them to blend into their environment.

As darkness set in, we felt pretty successful as we loaded back into the car and head back.  Fritz and Pranni didn’t take us right back to the city though.  Their community had been working for some time on their wat.  Now finished they were having a four-day-long party.  Back in their village, parades were lining the street; pick-up trucks were made into floats with mechanical puppet shows on them.  Troupes of women carrying flags marched along in their matching costumes.  A tiny boy in dark sunglasses rode atop a prancing pony.  Carts loaded with giant drums and with gongs hanging down were pulled along by men in matching blue suits.

The area surrounding the wat had been decorated with countless flags and banners in every color.  They set up stages and bandstands for dance troupes and bands.  We watched the women who are decorated with long metal fingernails dance in synchronicity to the blaring Thai music.  Parade after parade went by, dozens of monks in saffron robes, more ladies with flags, little girls decked out in flowers, people in silly costumes getting the crowd to dance with them.  There was so much going on: so much sound and smells of food in the air, it was so festive and fun and exciting!  We were the only tourists there and our fair skin and Jeremy’s fancy camera generated a lot of interest.  People came up to say “Hello!” and ask, “Where you from?”

Pranni thought it was very funny that I love dancing and encouraged me as the paraders pulled me into their joyous dancing.  This is the most fun I have had in Thailand so far, the most authentic experience.  We are handed free coconut ice cream and cups of cool water.  The community is very strong here bolstered by the belief in Buddha and the love of the king.  Though the town has only 200 residents, there must be 2000 people here, carrying in bouquets of flowers and handcrafted money trees as gifts to the newly improved wat, their community hub.

One of the bands was rocking out on stage. They had a drum kit, two marimba players, a bass guitar, a keyboard and some horns blaring music over the PA. There were groups of musicians in every little alley we walk past, some were playing marching band music, some are playing horns!  Jeremy and I were enthralled but tired and since we had to get driven all the way back to the city, we left even as more people were streaming into the party.Back in Chaing Mai we met back up with Made, went out for some Mexican food(!) and walked the night market before we heading off to bed.

Feb 22

Fritz and Pranni picked us up at the hotel at 11am and we were ready to move to their house for the next few days.  With fresh clean laundry and a belly full of vegetarian food again we head out to their house in the country where we enjoyed an afternoon siesta before going out again to Huy Hong Khrai.

Huy Hong Khrai is not the wilderness; it is a National Park with roads cut through it and buildings for offices and hatcheries, picnic areas and parking lots.  But it is surrounded by land that is protected, by order of the King, from hunting and fires.  We pass through the gate and drive in towards the breeding grounds.  We realize right away what tremendous luck we had yesterday: the first pond we come did not have peacocks there again.   We slowly drove along the road, scanning for Peacocks.  Pranni has the sharp eye, she always is first to spot birds, some times it takes the rest of us several minutes to spot what she instantly perceives: the peacocks in the bush.

Across a pond, hiding in the tall grass, we could barely make out a dark shape.  Peering through his telephoto camera lens, Jeremy confirmed it was a peacock, no, two!   Instantly and before Jer could snap a picture, a male took flight up and away into a tree out of sight.  We waited and waited for the others to fly across the pond to feed at the little zoo.

After an hour or so, several peacocks we hadn’t even noticed before took flight one by one over the pond.  They were far away, but Jeremy still got some good shots.  We counted 8 of them on the bank, in the sun, across the pond.  Still we waited for the two young males to make up their minds to go feed with the others.

Fritz told me that before they are two years old, the males do not fight for territory.  This information tells me that the two males we are waiting on are still young.  Fritz left the vehicle to fetch his camera and the noise from the trunk opening triggered the two males to fly across the pond in the glittering afternoon sun.

While Jeremy and Pranni waited near the car at the edge of the pond, Fritz and I headed towards the animal enclosures.  We had a half hour before they close the zoo and we thought maybe we could flush the peacocks back over the pond.    Walking quickly through the park, the birds we had seen fly over were now in the woods. But there were others, feeding in the deer enclosure, and when we came upon them, they flew back towards Jeremy and Pranni.

As we walked out among the animals in cages, Fritz took me by the monkey area.  The enclosures were small and had no features that would entertain a primate.  The animals looked dusty and sad as they peered through the bars at us as we walked by.  Fritz said he does not like the way they keep the monkeys here, and told me he often brings them special food that they like.

Back at the car, Jeremy and Pranni were telling us how beautiful the birds in flight were as we loaded into the car to check on another spot.  It was starting to become twilight, and chickens were feeding in the place where we had seen a male peacock yesterday.  We waited patiently, the car as our bird blind, and at last a female appeared, but with no sign of her mate.  After a while, she came up the to the side of the road, approached the spot near where Jeremy was hiding with his camera and made her short flight over the pond.

As we were driving home from this day of peacock watching, we noticed that the hillside was on fire.  It was part of the national park!  Fritz and Pranni explain to us that in the dry season, the people here set fire to the woods in order to flush jungle fowl for hunting.  They also take advantage of the cleared land for easy mushroom hunting.  The other benefit to this ground clearing fire is that it makes for easy planting. We were shocked and upset!   This is obviously bad forestry and band agriculture.  This is breeding season for the peacocks, which lay eggs on the ground!  This was wholesale destruction for every living creature on the ground!  Smoke was filling the air as we drove back to Doi Saket.

Back at the Esser’s house, there was a karaoke party going on nearby.  Jeremy and I tried our best to sleep with the PA blasting and amateurs singing right outside our window.

Feb 23

We woke up before sunrise to the smell of Pranni cooking rice and mushrooms in the kitchen.  After a quick shower and a cup of tea, we got back into the car for the 300KM drive up to Doi Phunang National Park.

The roads are winding and Fritz was driving fast as the sun started to show its light to the world.  It was a very hazy day and Jeremy and I made remarks to each other about the fire we had seen last night.   The twisty road took us up over jungle mountains, and today, on the drive, we saw that all of Thailand is on fire!  The entire drive from Doi Saket to the National Park near the Laos border had pockets of fire, here and there throughout the countryside.  We are all in shock about this as we drove the three hours to the place where populations of wild peacocks still survive.  We made only one stop, at a hilltop overlook, but the sky was so hazy with smoke, the mountains were barely visible.

Near to the National Park is a town where all the houses are built entirely from Teak.  Though the buildings are beautiful, I could not help but think woefully about the forest getting chopped down for lumber.  All the land preceding the park entrance has been cleared for farming.  Right up to the park gate the land is plowed and furrowed.  Just before we made the turn into the park we spotted a peacock, under a lone tree in the middle of a turned up field.  It was a young male, scratching the soft, plowed earth in search of food.  After watching him for a while, we made the last turn into the Doi Phunang National Park.

Doi Phunang National Park is a large park, 740,440,000 square meters.  Besides wild Green Peacocks, the park is also home to wild pigs, tigers, Samba deer, and soft-shelled turtles, to name a few of the bigger species.  It also holds within its boundaries the Tansawan Waterfall, and the beautiful series of travertine pools below it.

The ranger at the park captured eggs from the wild and hatched them under chicken hens at the park.  So, living on the manicured grounds of the park headquarters are three wild Green Peacocks, two males and one female.  Fritz has spent a lot of time here in the park, observing the peacocks and their habitat.   Nights, he and Pranni would pitch a tent in the Peacocks’ area and await the dawn.  Staying in the tent all day, so as not to scare the birds away from their territory, they have made careful observation of the birds.  Fritz estimated as many as 30 living in area just surrounding the park office.

The area Fritz has so carefully observed is perfect peacock land.  There are hilltops where the males can do there dancing and call to the females, there are tall trees for them to roost in, there is farmland where corn grows, a good food supply for the birds, and a river for their water supply.  The soil here is rocky, made from volcanic lava.  Though earthquakes are not unheard of here, the volcano is long gone.

Fritz walked us through the fallow corn field, past the big trees, to the edge of the river, over it and up on the hill top, all the while pointing out peacock tracks and peacock dung, explaining all of these things to us.  From the hilltop we can see back to the ranger station and we hear a peacock cry.  I felt like he was talking to us!  Since we were observing only habitat, and not the animals themselves so much, Fritz starts outlining for us the problems facing conservation.

According to Fritz, National Parks and breeding centers in Thailand have uninformed staff.  Since government work pays pretty well here, most people are happy to have a steady paycheck and aren’t necessarily taking the job for the love of nature.  Eight uniformed staff manned the park on this day.  Two were at the information booth to point at photos displayed on a board and hand out pamphlets, later I saw them turn on the sprinklers and clean out the guesthouse.   Later in the day we saw the rest of the workers down by the falls in hammocks and hanging around selling water to tourists.  Meanwhile farmers and poachers encroach on the park and no one really seems to know or care what is going on beyond their manicured grounds.  Fritz says most government workers in Thailand would prefer to know less and thus have to do less.

On his own time, initiative and resources, Fritz has traveled around to every Thai national park that has peacocks living in it to impart his expertise about breeding, feeding, health and habitat.  He has brought each breeding site books that he purchased himself to help the keepers there to better understand their job.  I think Fritz cares more for the health and success of the Thai ecosystem than he does anything else and he uses the money he saved from when he lived in Germany 2 years ago to buy extra food for the breeding stations and to regularly travel around to and the parks where his beloved Peacocks live and monitor their situations.

From photographs, Fritz can recognize a specific peacock and where in Thailand it lives, such is his dedication and expertise.  He told me how worried he is about farmers, lumber mafia, and illegal burning having an ill effect on Peacocks and all the other plants and animals that share their habitat.

Already the site here has changed since he was here a few months back.  More big trees have been cut or burned down, more land cleared for agriculture.  The peacocks are pushed up into the mountains where they have no food and water. When he was last here, he heard tell of a farmer complaining that a peacock was eating his corn.  Fritz feels that the land belonged first to the Peacocks and that with better farming techniques and some better understanding of the animals, man and bird could live in harmony.

As we make our way around the jungle, every bit of the forest floor is burned.  The scaly earth has no soil or vegetation.  We know that huge runoff will occur when the rains come again.  Though the population of peacocks here appears to be healthy, it seems only a matter a time before this delicate balance tips.

Back at the park office, Jeremy makes some photos of the tame-ish wild peacocks.  After some refreshments, we walked down the paved trail to the waterfall.  It is cool and relaxing and Jeremy and I dip our feet in to the cool clear blue water.  Thailand is a paradise, with tigers and elephants and peacocks still roaming wild, clear water tumbling out of rocks and bubbling hot out of the earth, but without the effort of the whole country, it really seems ominous for these beautiful and noble creatures.

On the long drive back to Doi Saket, the fires burning everywhere we look inflame us all.  Roadside fires engulf the big, brushy seeds of the Pampas grass and the dry bamboo crackles with the heat, lines of fire snake up the mountainsides.  Why are they doing this? Why had the whole country, it seems, decided to set the place on fire?  We parked the car by the side of the road to watch a big, red sun ball sink into the smoke-filled mountain horizon and a curious truck driver stopped along side. With Pranni translating, he tells us he is a government worker.  We relay our questions and he tells hill people, forgetting to put their cooking fires out, letting them get away, cause the fires.  We can see for ourselves that this cannot be true, and we are incensed by his blitheness.

But what is the reason?  These people can’t all be lighting fires to catch chickens and find mushrooms.   Are people carelessly throwing lit cigarettes out of car windows every 100 meters?  The senselessness is frustrating, and the air in places feels too thick to breathe.  Darkness falls as we reach Doi Saket and we can still see the red snakes of fire crawling on the hillsides.

Over dinner Fritz tells his dream for the future, and what he would do if he had some outside funding.  He wants to go all around Thailand and the neighboring countries and collect genetic data from the various galliforms.  He wants to compare this information with genetic samples taken from peacocks 100 years dead and on display in museums around the world.  This information would provide the scientific community with information it needs to successfully reintroduce these birds back into their habitat.

Piggybacked on this idea, Fritz dreams of an operation like the World Pheasant Association, made solely for galliforms.   Through this organization, breeders, like himself, could hatch chicks of pure genetic blood, unique individual subspecies of peacocks, to be reintroduced into the wild.   At his side, beautiful Pranni smiles brightly, conveying to me her love of the animals, the symbol of her country.

Feb 24,

We are up again before dawn to the sound of roosters crowing and the smell of Pranni cooking.  Today’s adventure was to an even farther off place than yesterday; we went north, almost to the Myanmar border, to a town called Mae Hong Son where there is another Royal breeding ground.  Even windier and steeper and longer than yesterday’s drive, it took us 5 hours to get to Mae Tok Surin National Park.  Though the trip is long and arduous, Fritz makes it once a month to check on the goings on there.

Over the last two years, with his own money and more that he received from private donors, Fritz has built 6 enclosures and a food storage shed specifically for the Thai Green Peacocks.  Each enclosure is 12m x 18m x 3 up to 5 meters tall.  Fritz imported material from the Netherlands, the best quality aviary netting.  The steel mesh and tubing that makes the walls of the enclosure he trucked in himself to cut down on the cost of building it.  These enclosures are of his own design and are far nicer than the ones built by the Thai government; they have bigger doors for the keepers to use and more sheltered space for the animals, which they need for rainy season.  Fritz also donated an egg incubator, purchased in Germany, and also donates money for food.  It costs 18, 400 baht ($600) per year to feed the 17 Green Peacocks housed here.

The peacocks have one worker who cleans and feeds and medicates them.  The Thai government pays 500 baht a month for this, a decent wage for Thailand, and it appears the job is being well done.  The birds here look very healthy and the enclosures are very clean.

Peacocks from all around Thailand have been brought in here to mix their blood while keeping the genetics pure.  The plan is to release the birds in hospitable habitat where peacocks no longer live. To accomplish all of this, Fritz has an ally, Mr. Amnuay Puangkam.  Mr. Puangkam works under direction of the King and also for the Wildlife Department. He a breeder, pretty high up on the chain of command; his boss is in Bangkok.  He is in charge of three breeding stations in the area.  Fritz has told him he will be known as the best Peacock breeder in Thailand, if he follows the method Fritz is teaching him.  Mr. Puangkam has an Indian peahen that is a good breeder, and had been breeding her with the Thai peacock and getting lots of eggs.  But with Fritz’ direction, he has moved away from this practice and now boasts pure Royal Green Peacocks, the finest in Thailand!

We left Mae Tok Surin to visit another of Mr Puangkam’s breeding centers.  It is on the grounds of Pang Tong Palace. Fritz considered building his enclosures there but it is higher in altitude and a colder, wetter place for the birds.  The grounds are beautiful with many flowers and huge stands of bamboo.  There are dozens of workers and it is so green and lush here it is like we stepped into another season.

Mr. Puangkam met us here and with Pranni’s help, we tried to interview him about the peacock release program, the monitoring of released birds, and the dangers facing the peacocks once they are in the wild.   Mr. Puangkam , we gather, is a successful breeder and will release untagged birds into the wild by direction of the King.  Illegal immigrants, he tells us, cause problems of habitat encroachment; neighboring countries are swelling the population to unsustainable numbers.  Wildfires spread too quickly to be dealt with.  Monitoring the released birds is not his department.

Fritz tells us that Mr. Puangkam is a hard-working man and reasonable to work with.  The idea of pure species is new to him and he is catching on slowly.  Thai people have their own ways of doing things are resistant to the influence of outsiders.  It is lucky for the peacocks that Fritz is having success in educating people who hold their existence in their hands.

It should also be noted that the king has a project dedicated to Silver Pheasants and that 63 of them were released last year onto the King’s protected land.