Peacocks mate via tears, insists Indian judge

An Indian judge has claimed that peacocks do not mate, but sire their offspring through tears.

“A peacock is a lifelong celibate” stated Justice Mahesh Chandra Sharma, of the Rajasthan High Court in western India.

Peahens get pregnant after swallowing the peacock’s tears said Mr Sharma on his last day as a judge in the state capital, Jaipur.

He made the remarks immediately after delivering a judgment in which he recommended that the cow, considered holy by India’s majority Hindu community, be declared India’s national animal. The peacock is the country’s national bird.