Beloved peacocks reported stolen from historic California hotel

The Ryde Hotel’s staffers are desperately missing their favorite occupants — the gorgeous peacocks known to fawn about on the orchard-lined banks of the Sacramento River and mischievously wander through the hotel’s banquet hall.

A guest reported seeing two men shoving a peacock into a cage and loading it into a pickup truck Saturday, hotel manager David Nielsen said.

A head count on Sunday yielded an alarming discovery: Of the several dozen peacocks that make up the local flock, only four could be found on the hotel grounds. The Ryde Hotel is close to the California Delta, near the rural community of Walnut Grove, and has a history that stretches back nearly 140 years.

“This area is known as the heart of the Delta and when this first happened it was a little shocking,” said hotel events coordinator Rafe Goorwitch. “It was a stab in the heart.”

The Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the case of the missing peacocks. It is hoping to track down those responsible and bring the birds home.

“It’s unique in the sense that we’ve never had a peacock caper,” Sgt. Amar Gandhi told The Times. “It is being investigated by our property crimes bureau and it is a felony based on the dollar amount.”

Gandhi said that the estimated value of a male peacock — known for its fabulous, iridescent tail feathers — is $2,000, while a female peacock is valued at about $1,000.

Nielsen said he’s concerned that the peacocks may have been stolen to be used in cockfights. “That disturbs me highly and is really kind of hard to talk about,” he said, getting choked up.

Officials at the Ryde Hotel, which regularly fed 15 peacocks, say only four have shown up on the hotel grounds. They fear the rest have been stolen.

(Rafe Goorwitch)

Gandhi said that peacocks are not typically used for fighting but that there is real reason to be worried for their welfare.

“They could be used for the black market exotic animal trade or sometimes even for peacock meat,” he said.

The original Ryde Hotel was built in 1886 and located a few yards south of the present structure, according to the Elk Grove Historical Society. The present four-story Art Deco property was constructed in 1926 at the height of the Prohibition and was known for the flamboyant speakeasy in its basement.

A new owner purchased the property 14 years ago and brought with him a peafowl and peahen, Nielsen said. Since then, several generations of peacocks have enjoyed the hotel’s hospitality.

About 40 peacocks now live in the area, and 15 come to the hotel for food on a daily basis, Goorwitch said. It took the staff a couple of days to realize how severely the population had shrunk.

“They don’t like smoke and we had a fire recently up here, so I really wasn’t expecting the hardcore group of 15 to be showing up,” Goorwitch said. “I wasn’t looking for them until this fellow said that someone had stolen at least one.”

A male peacock called Alibaba shows off its feathers at the Ryde Hotel in Sacramento County. Such a bird can fetch $2,000, a sheriff’s spokesperson says.

(Rafe Goorwitch)

Of the four remaining peacocks, one has several tail feathers missing, indicating that someone may have attempted to snatch him, Nielsen said. The hotel has installed more cameras across the property to help keep the remaining birds safe.

“Catching a peacock is no easy feat; it’s like catching a chicken,” Nielsen said. “It’s highly unusual that so many of them were grabbed without any commotion.”

Because the area is so rural, the Sheriff’s Office does not have a lot of security cameras or license plate readers that detectives can rely on, Gandhi said. Nevertheless, the department hopes that it can use witness accounts and “good, old-fashioned detective work” to find the birds, he said.

Goorwitch in particular is mourning the absence of his favorite peacock, Alibaba, who had a fabulous fan of tail feathers and was not afraid to flaunt them.

“I know they’re just birds,” he said, “but Alibaba was really something special.”