Malayan Peacock Pheasant Chester Zoo 11 May 2002

Male Malayan Peacock Pheasant (Polyplectron malacense malacense) in the upper aviaries, Tropical Realm Chester Zoo.

They died soon after.

I've been in contact with john Corder recently (he has bred the species many times) and he says that the keepers are good, but these species are so difficult to rear, that they really need the care that only a private breeder can give. They only lay one egg at a time, so their breeding cycle is very slow, it also will take a lot more time to build up a captive population.

Nothing against the zoo, they are just very very very very hard to manage (same goes for the bornean)

I take your point. I'm sure it has been said on the forums, there are some animals which do better in private care than in zoos, because a private keeper can spend far more time getting to know what his animals like and dislike.