Issued in public interest: Objection my lord, Peacocks do have sex

It’s a crazy crazy news day. Stuff that we in Newslaundry live for and thrive on. Early today, a Rajasthan High Court judge, Mahesh Chandra Sharma, recommended to the Centre that it must declare the cow as the national animal of India. Because, well, everything from cow pee to cow poop is beneficial to mankind.

In an interview with CNN News18, Sharma after giving this momentous recommendation held forth on why peacock is India’s national bird. He says it is so because peacocks remain celibate through their lives. What follows is Sharma’s very special explanation on how a peahen gets pregnant – she apparently pecks on the tears of an eligible peacock.

Of course, this little interview is CNN News18’s pinned tweet for the day.

While this has become the source of much mirth among the Twitterratis, we, at Newslaundry, are of a very serious disposition. While the honourable judge is entitled to his world vision, this cock and bull story on the mating habits of India’s national bird can have serious repercussion on young minds, not to mention the irreparable damage this may cause to the reputation of peacocks as matters beyond compare. Those feathers ain’t just for show, after all.