Barn owls get a new year gift of life

Sunday, January 06, 2008
Volunteers of PAWS saved five of these birds from being illegally sold, one of which died because of the heat and suffocation, and the other four survived
About Photo : These barn owls had been squeezed in this carton with no holes to facilitate breathing

For these four barn owls, the volunteers of Plant and Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) are Santa. On Sunday, volunteers from the PAWS rescued five owls that were being illegally sold at Andheri (E) by an unidentified person.

According to Sunish Subramanian of PAWS, they received the tip from an unknown caller stating that a person carrying a box containing some birds was standing near the traffic signal at Powai.

“As soon as we reached the spot, we located the person, who started running as soon as he spotted our ambulance, leaving the box on the road. There were five owls, of which one had died due to heat and suffocation, as there were no holes in the box. The rescued owls were given water and were taken to the Parel veterinary hospital,” informed Subramanian.

Factfile
Barn owls usually hatch in October, and become adults around December. In fact, many of them are usually lost or are seen dazed far from their habitat, as they are not yet confident of their surroundings. Due to this, they become an easy prey for aggressive birds such as crows during this time of the year.