India donates five peacocks to UN Geneva, reviving decades-old tradition
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India has donated five Indian peacocks, including a rare white-feathered male, to the United Nations Office at Geneva (UNOG), reviving a tradition dating back decades.
At a ceremony on Friday, India’s Permanent Representative to the UN in Geneva, Arindam Bagchi, formally handed over the birds to UNOG Director-General Tatiana Valovaya.
The five young peacocks comprise four blue peafowl and one white-feathered male, reflecting the blue and white colours associated with the United Nations. The Indian mission said the peacock symbolises India’s natural heritage, biodiversity conservation and environmental stewardship.
The donation marks the second time India has presented peacocks to UNOG. In 1981, then prime minister Indira Gandhi sent a breeding pair from the Delhi Zoo.
The birds will initially remain in an enclosed habitat for about three months before being allowed to roam freely in Ariana Park, where the UN’s European headquarters is located. Their care will be overseen by the Geneva Bioparc zoo and UN staff.
Peacocks have been part of Ariana Park for more than a century. The tradition predates the establishment of both the League of Nations and the United Nations and traces back to Swiss archaeologist and art collector Gustave Revilliod, who bequeathed the estate to the city of Geneva in 1890.
Most of the peacocks currently seen in the park were donated by a Japanese zoo in 1997.
The 46-hectare Ariana Park was made available by the City of Geneva to the League of Nations and later the UN for its offices. India said the latest donation adds to the biodiversity of the UN premises while reflecting its longstanding partnership with the organisation and commitment to multilateralism and international cooperation.