Escaped peacock that reportedly bit man on New York City sidewalk has returned to zoo

A peacock has returned to the Bronx Zoo after an eventful night out in New York City.

Raul, the name given to the bird by the neighboring community, flew off zoo property April 26, according to NBC New York. A passerby told the station that the peacock bit him after he tried to catch the escaped bird at around 8 p.m. Wednesday. Raul remained off zoo premises overnight before returning to the zoo less than 24 hours later.

"It flew back to the zoo on its own, as expected," Max Pulsinelli, executive director of communications at Wildlife Conservation Society, which owns the Bronx Zoo, said in a statement to TODAY.com.

Zoo staff monitored the bird as it started to move around at dawn Thursday, and the bird arrived back at the Bronx Zoo "under his own initiative" at 11:19 a.m. on April 27, the zoo said in a statement.

"We had confidence in our knowledge of bird behavior to predict how he would behave if given the chance to do so without interference," the zoo said. "We were confident in our staffs’ ability to handle the situation."

The man, who NBC New York did not name, told the station that he tried to capture the escaped peacock, which was two blocks away from the zoo.

“It just started running up the hill towards traffic," the man said. "You know, we had to try and keep the bird safe. We chased him, I trapped him inside the gate, he got tired of the gate and then tried to peck me.”

A witness, who was not named by NBC New York, told the station that Raul then flew into a nearby tree, which is a peacock's preferred sleep setting.

The New York City fire department tells TODAY.com in a statement that it received a call about an incident near the Bronx Zoo at 8:20 p.m. and sent a team for “reports of a minor injury.”

“One patient was treated on scene, but refused transport,” the statement said.

FDNY did not confirm to TODAY.com whether it was due to the peacock or an animal bite.

Peacocks are free-roaming birds. The Bronx Zoo has hundreds of peacocks, according to NBC New York.

This article was originally published on TODAY.com