Baby barn owls will find new home at zoo
Its scientific name is Tyto Alba, but most people know them simply as barn owls. Over the weekend a woman discovered two of the baby owls, not in her barn, but in her attic. The birds were turned over to the Belize Audubon Society this morning where Publicity Coordinator, Dirk Francisco told us that while residents might be frightened by their sounds, the birds play an important role in nature.
Dirk Francisco, Publicity Coordinator, Belize Audubon Society
“Right now the owls are very weak because the lady who brought them was trying to feed them bread, but owls don’t eat bread. These owls feed on rats or small mammals that are in you backyards so this is another reason why people shouldn’t harm owls or harass them because they are removing rats, which are a problem in Belize.”
“Barn owls are known to roost in the attics of several Belizeans, especially wooden houses with some old attics. So it’s an ongoing occurrence in Belize where people are removing owls out of their attics because of the noise that they make or just them being scared of the animals.”
“Whenever you have an owl in your attic you need to call the Forestry Department and ask for the Wildlife Officer, Mr. George Hanson so that they could come and remove the animal out of the attic.”
Kendra Griffith
“So you are not supposed to take it out yourself?”
Dirk Francisco
“Yeah, you shouldn’t be handling animals by yourself.”
“For these two owls we called the Belize Zoo because they are already here. The Belize Zoo will rehabilitate the animals and see if they can release them back into the wild.”
The telephone number for the Forest Department is 822-2079. The Belize Audubon Society is also reminding members and the general public of their annual general meeting to be held on May twenty-sixth at ten a.m. at St. Herman’s Blue Hole National Park. Transportation will be provided, but those needing a ride should sign up before the meeting.
