KAMPONG CHHNANG: After receiving an order from the Prime Minister to return any seized peacocks back to their owners, the Forestry Administration immediately began preparations to return 20 peacocks from Phnom Tamao Zoological Park.

The Director of the Phnom Tamao Zoo and Wildlife Rescue Center, Nhek Ratanak Pich, confirmed to EAC News that officials at the rescue center were preparing to transport the peacocks, originally seized on 16 February 2023, back to the owner, a man named Yim Sam Oeun who lives in Baribo district, Kampong Chhnang.

He said the 20 peacocks will be transported back to their original owner this evening. Among the 20 peacocks confiscated by the Forestry Administration and kept at Phnom Tamao Zoo, six are green peacocks native to Cambodia, and 14 are Indian peacocks.

After the Prime Minister ordered wildlife officials to return the peacocks to the original owner, Yim Sam Oeun wrote a message thanking the Prime Minister on his Facebook account.

“I would like to thank all the leaders who have shown sympathy to the people. I wish you the best of luck and longevity for the Cambodian people for the benefit of the nation, development and peace," he wrote.