Bhubaneswar: A male Golden Pheasant was found dead inside the enclosure in the Nandankanan Zoological Park on Sunday afternoon.
The zoo staff found the carcass in the enclosure-78 (A) and took it for post-mortem.
Although the exact cause of the death of the bird was not immediately known, it is suspected the bird may have died during a fight with other birds inside the enclosure.
The Golden Pheasant is native to forests in mountainous areas of western China.
These exotic birds feed on the ground on grain, leaves and invertebrates, but they roost in trees at night. During winter, they flock close to human settlements at the edge of the forest, taking primarily wheat leaves and seeds.
Although these birds can fly clumsily in short bursts, they prefer to run and spend most of their time on the ground.
Golden pheasants lay 8 to 12 eggs at a time and will then incubate these for around 22–23 days. They tend to eat berries, grubs, seeds and other types of vegetation.
The male has a metallic call in the breeding season.
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