10:53 AM PDT on Wednesday, July 19, 2006

By ANTONIA GIEDWOYN, kgw.com Staff

It was a case of a foul fowl -- a peacock at the Oregon Zoo attacked a toddler Monday, prompting the boy’s parents to rush him to the hospital and zoo officials to emphasize the infrequency of such incidents.

KGW photo

Zach Woodward shows one of his bandaged arms.

“We were next to the tigers when the peacock came up… it goes down to get a piece of purple candy and my son stepped towards the peacock and it jumped up on him and grabbed my son on both shoulders with its talons and stuck its beak into his chest,” said Shane Woodward.

He kicked the bird, which then ran off toward some other children, according to Woodward.

“When it happened, everyone grabbed their kids and picked them up right away,” Woodward said.

He said his two-year-old son Zach was, “really traumatized. He kept saying, ‘bad peacock, bad peacock.’ “

Zach suffered two deep scratches to his left shoulder, and the wounds were still bleeding an hour and a half after the incident, according to Woodward. The child also has welts on both arms. He was treated by zoo staff, who described the wounds as superficial.

KGW photo

The peacock believed to have been involved in the scratching incident.

The zoo released a statement in response, which reads, in part: "Apparently, the peacock felt threatened and grabbed the front of the child's T-shirt while wrapping his talons around the child's upper arms... The child suffered minor welts on his arms in addition to the superficial scratch. The Oregon zoo regrets the incident, and is sorry that the child was frightened."

Zoo officials said such incidents occur very rarely. An estimated three out of the last 10 million visitors have been scratched by the birds, officials said. Nevertheless, the peacock believed to be responsible has lost its roaming privileges.

"They [zoo officials] were acting like it’s no big deal and the peacock just got his shirt,” Woodward said. “It did leave some pretty good gouges in his arms… and it would have very easily taken his eye out."

Zach's family took him to Southwest Washington Medical Center to check whether he would need a tetanus shot.

Woodward, who is a zoo member and frequently takes his family there, said he doesn’t necessarily believe the free-roaming birds should be confined, but he thinks the zoo should at least post signs warning visitors that peacocks may be aggressive.

Many zoo patrons enjoy the opportunity to view the beautiful birds up-close, however, visitors' safety is of the utmost importance and the zoo will review its policy regarding free roaming peacocks, zoo officials said.