Dozens of peacocks have been abandoned without food in freezing conditions in a park in Beijing.

The Peacock Garden, which contains 160 of the birds, in Xiangshan (Fragrance Hill) Park in western Beijing has been unstaffed after workers fled last Thursday.

It follows a slump in ticket sales because of the cold weather, which left bosses struggling to fund the site.

One of the birds has already died and fears are being raised more will follow.

Experts say peacocks can only survive without food for about seven days.

Some members of the public have resorted to feeding the State-protected birds themselves.

The Lupu Animal Breeding Farm in Zhejiang's Yuhuan County opened the 600-square-metre Peacock Garden in the park six years ago, the Beijing Daily Messenger said yesterday.

But the contract expires on February 14 and the fate of the flock, which feature both green and blue species, is now uncertain.

A member of staff from the breeding farm, who refused to give his name, said ticket sales had plummeted since cold weather hit the capital city towards the end of 2005.

Without the income, bosses have struggled to find the several hundred yuan, or less than US$100, needed to provide food for the peacocks each day.

They also have to pay for feeders and rent charges for the site in park.

"The prices for peacocks have been falling lately, and we are unable to sell these birds. We have had to close the garden, that's the only way out, and we just cannot help it," said the employee.

It is not known whether they will renew the contract when it expires, he added.

A worker from the Xiangshan Park's Management Division said because the peacocks were privately owned they were unable to enter the site and feed the birds.

Some Beijing residents have now taken it upon themselves to provide food for the birds, the Beijing Daily Messenger said.

A woman surnamed Yuan said she traveled to the garden, despite needing to change buses four times to get there, to bring one and a half kilograms of dried food.

A young couple also fed some steamed bread to the peacocks and were happy to see the birds "enjoy the food immensely," the Beijing Youth Daily said.

"If some of the tourists who visit the park every day can bring steamed bread with them, the peacocks could survive hunger and the cold," the couple said, adding that they would not like to see the birds being left uncared for due to a business dispute.

Tests carried out on the peacock which died revealed its death was due to hunger and an inflammation in the intestines, the Beijing Youth Daily reported yesterday.

After medical checks showed it had nothing to do with bird flu, the bird was buried.

Experts say the peacocks are facing the threat of death in a large scale, the paper said.

The China News Service previously reported that the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Parks ordered park staff to enclose all man-raised birds in the city's parks since November 21 last year due to fears of bird flu. The Peacock Garden was also closed temporarily, the report said.

(China Daily January 13, 2006)