- In 2025, Bangladesh released 20 peafowls from captivity into a forest-based enclosure as part of plans to fully reintroduce the species into the country’s wild.
- The sole chick to hatch from this group is now 6 months old and being considered for full release.
- The Bangladesh Forest Department says it expects more chicks from this year’s breeding and plans to gradually release these into the wild too, specifically into Madhupur National Park, north of Dhaka.
- Conservationists warn that releasing captive peafowl stock into the wild has a high chance of failure and could spread diseases to other wild species.
Conservation authorities in Bangladesh say they’re still on track to fully release peafowl back into the wild, under a program that began with a “soft” release of the birds last year. But experts warn against rushing the release, noting that because the species has long been extinct in the wild in Bangladesh, habituating captive-raised birds to life in the forest won’t be easy.
The Bangladesh Forest Department, with the support of nongovernmental organization Creative Conservation Alliance, in May 2025 moved 20 captive-raised common Indian peafowls (Pavo cristatus) into a forest enclosure within Madhupur National Park, which falls under the jurisdiction of the forest department’s Tangail division.
Since then, the five males and 15 females have produced a dozen eggs, with one wild-born chick successfully hatching, according to Abu Naser Mohsin Hossain, an officer with the Tangail Forest Division.
“Now the chick is 6 months old. This year, we are expecting more from the group,” he said.
“Our plan is to release only the chicks in the wild as they are growing up in a natural condition and making themselves adaptive for the wild.”
Hossain said the 20 birds initially moved into the enclosure will not be part of that full release into the wild since they grew up in captivity. Instead, they will serve as parent stock.
The peafowl’s history in Bangladesh
According to a 2024 study, peafowls are a common wild bird across South Asia. The Indian government lists them as that country’s national bird.
Bangladesh was home to both known species of peafowl just a few decades ago. Of these, Indian peafowls were most common in the forests of the country’s north and central zones, dominated by sal (Shorea robusta) trees. The other common peafowl in Asia is the green peafowl (Pavo muticus), today found in Indonesia, China and Myanmar. In Bangladesh, the green peafowl used to be sighted only in the Chittagong Hill Tracts, on the country’s eastern edge. Since 2015, however, both the peafowls have been declared regionally extinct because of habitat destruction and hunting.
Since Indian peafowls were commonly found in sal forests historically, the Forest Department selected the sal-dominated Madhupur National Park as a release site to get the best adaptive result.
While peafowls are extinct in the wild in Bangladesh, many are kept in the country’s zoos and private enclosures.
The Department of Livestock (DLS) permits individual citizens to rear peafowls in captivity. According to the 2024 study, between 2009 and 2024, the DLS sold at least 400 peafowls, taken from the surplus population of Dhaka Zoo, to private individuals across the country.
The risk and suggested cautions
The planned release of peafowls back into the wild in Bangladesh has raised concerns among experts.
“Since the peafowls were born and grew up in captivity, they do not have the ability to survive in the wild,” Monirul H. Khan, a zoology professor at Jahangirnagar University in Dhaka, said of the 20 birds currently held in the forest enclosure. “For instance, these birds don’t know their predators and the skills to fight with other wild animals and manage food from the wild. In addition, they might develop and bear diseases or germs since they are in contact with humans, which might be transferred to other wild species.”
In a phone interview with Mongabay, Khan said the Forest Department could trial a release of the chick born in the enclosure, but added the chances of survival in the wild of a chick bred from captive stock are very low.
“The authority should take enough time and maintain the reintroduction process properly before releasing them in the wild forever,” said A.B.M. Sarowar Alam, program manager for Bangladesh at the IUCN, the global wildlife conservation authority, in a phone interview with Mongabay. “Spending enough time in an adaptive period/soft-release condition is urgent to make them habituate and understand and address the risks in the wild.”
He added, “Also, post-release surveillance and monitoring should be followed. For that, a GPS-based tracking method can be used to know their status until the released peafowls can make their own flock.”
Regarding the suggestions from conservationists, Abu Naser Mohsin Hossain from the Tangail Forest Division said, “We welcome suggestions from experts working on this kind of rewilding process to make the initiative successful.”
Banner image: A peacock displaying its tail in India. Image by allanlau2000 via Pixabay.
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Citation:
Rahman, A. N., Sharif, M. A., Shuvo, K. H., Rahman, N. Z., Islam, M. T., Hoque, M. N., & Das, Z. C. (2024). Common peafowl (Pavo cristatus) farming in Bangladesh: Current status, reproductive behavior and health management. Journal of Science and Technology Research, 6(1), 21-32. doi:10.3329/jscitr.v6i1.77370
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Cite this article
Abu Siddique (2026). Bangladesh tests a return to the wild for extinct peafowl populations. Mongabay Conservation news. DOI: https://doi.org/10.66709/news-321813Credits
