A story in the Uttara Ramayana describes the head of the Devas, Indra, who unable to defeat Ravana, sheltered under the wing of peacock and later blessed it with a “thousand eyes” and fearlessness from serpents. Another story has Indra who after being cursed with a thousand ulcers was transformed into a peacock with a thousand eyes.
Adult peafowl can usually escape ground predators by flying into trees. Large animals such as leopards, dholes, wolves, lions and tigers can sometimes ambush them however, and in some areas such as the Gir forest, peafowl are fairly common prey for such formidable predators. Foraging in groups provides some safety as there are more eyes to look out for predators. They are also sometimes hunted by large birds of prey such as the changeable hawk-eagle and rock eagle-owl.Chicks are somewhat more prone to predation than adult birds