Four little birds brought in to boost Dunfermline’s ostentation of peacocks have all died.
It is the second major blow for the project to re-populate the Fife town with a pride of the magnificent birds.
The sad news comes only weeks after one of Pittencrieff Park’s adult peahens was killed on a nearby road.
There is no obvious reason for the death of the four peachicks which only arrived in the park in July.
It is believed the baby birds all died within days of each other.
Fife Council team manager John O’Neil said: “Sadly, all four peachicks have died.
“A vet carried out an autopsy and there were no apparent reasons for the deaths.
“There’s no virus or danger to other wildlife.”
Mr O’Neil said the park was now home to the town’s long established peacock, Clive, and two peahens.
One is Louisa and the other the white peahen which arrived with the peachicks.
Helen Law, the chairwoman of the City of Dunfermline area committee, said the news was very sad.
It was back in August that the Glen, a gift to the town from philanthropist Andrew Carnegie, was hit with tragedy when Henrietta, one of two peahens introduced into Pittencrieff Park last year, was killed.
Along with Louise, Henrietta was brought into the Glen as a potential mate for Dunfermline’s last surviving peacock, Clive.
Dunfermline has been home to a pride of peacocks for more than a century but in recent years the group of magnificent birds had sadly dwindled.
So that was why there was such delight when the brace of lady friends for lonely Clive arrived in their new home in the peacock sanctuary which was created from the park’s former animal house in June last year.
They were named by the team in the park who looks after them and the Friends of Pittencrieff Park.
Louise was a nod to Andrew Carnegie’s wife while Henrietta was in honour of Henry Beveridge, who gifted some of the birds to the town in 1905 on his return from India.