Barn owls take flight - Hope Zoo, NEPA release birds into the wild

THE HOPE Zoo Preservation Foundation and the National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA) on Wednesday, released three rescued barn owls into the wild.

The owls – siblings Alpha and Salena and the famous Powder – took flight with no incident, after months of rehabilitation at the rescue centre at the Hope Zoo.

The release is one of many that sees the reintegration of rescued and rehabilitated animals, including native birds, American crocodiles and Jamaican boas into the wild through the Hope Zoo, which has had a long-standing relationship with NEPA and acts as a wildlife sanctuary for the island.

Birds are of particular importance, as all native birds are protected under the Wildlife Protection Act.

“That’s how the Wildlife Protection Act is,” Ricardo Miller, environmental coordinator for fauna in the ecosystems management branch at NEPA told The Gleaner.

While at the Hope Zoo, the owls were cared for using a detailed step process, crafted to prevent habituation. When Powder was brought to the zoo, he was still very young and thus unable to feed himself, unlike fledgelings Alpha and Salena.

“Literally, for the first few weeks for Powder, I was getting the mixture of chicks and mice, several times a night in my kitchen, cutting them open and then pretty much collecting all the organs and feeding him like intestines, all the liver and stuff,” shared Joey Brown, curator at Hope Zoo.

Powder was raised in Brown’s home before being moved to the rescue facility.

“I have an extra bedroom at my house, it’s kinda like the ICU,” said Brown.

From there, he was moved to a smaller cage, later moving to a larger cage to strengthen his flight muscles. Once the owls are strong enough to fly, they are released into the wild.

Alpha and Salena were rescued from the Alpha Primary School, having fallen out of their nest. They were brought to the Hope Zoo by Damany Calder, an environmental officer in the ecosystems management branch of NEPA.

RESCUING POWDER

Powder was reported by Chelan Smith. The lifestyle blogger and chief executive officer of boutique marketing agency Chelan Communications, says it was her helper, Carlene and the screeching of other owls that brought him to her attention.

“Powder fell from his nest unto my verandah. The whole night his family searched for him. I couldn’t understand why the owls were so loud, but it was later explained that they were searching for him. My helper, Carlene, went outside in the morning and was surprised when she saw it, took a picture, ran in and asked what it was. I had no idea, so I tweeted the picture to Twitter and Damion (Whyte) responded that it was an owl,” said Smith.

When he was found, Powder had an injured wing. Also, his nest was 30-feet high. As a result, Whyte, a PhD student at the University of the West Indies and environmental officer at the Urban Development Corporation (UDC), brought him to the zoo.

Smith’s initial tweet, sent on March 7, quickly gained popularity, as did baby owl, Powder. Users looked forward to updates from Hope Zoo and its curator, Brown.

“I didn’t expect such a big response, but it was a pleasant surprise. So many times we hear that Jamaicans aren’t animal lovers, but I have experienced the opposite,” said Smith.

For Whyte, the little owl who fell from his nest is just one way in which public sentiments and perception about owls and other wildlife may be changed.

“[You] know in Jamaican folklore, owls bring bad news. If you hear it screech, somebody ago dead and all of that, but in Europe, owls bring good news or if you watch Harry Potter, bring you the letters and stuff like that. So we are just trying to let people know they are pretty cool birds, don’t harm them and, if yuh hear them screech, you nah go dead,” said Whyte, with a chuckle.

Powder was released on Wednesday night in Smith’s honour.

“Chelan has been posting about her fight with cancer and we all know she is going to persevere,” said Whyte. “We want her to feel good knowing her little ‘fluff ball’ is now a big bird.”

Smith, in response, says she was moved by the gesture. She is also is grateful for the assistance Powder received.

“I loved that the team kept me informed with pictures and updates and even let me know beforehand that they were going to release him. Damion, Joey, Hope Zoo and NEPA did an [absolutely] incredible job. Releasing him in my honour made me emotional, in a good way. I hope Powder will flourish into adulthood and live a free, healthy life,” said Smith.

To learn more about the Hope Zoo, follow @HopeZooKingston on Instagram and Twitter. To report an animal sighting, calling the National Environment and Planning Agency at 876-754-7540 or 888-991-5005. Follow on Twitter @nepajamaica and on Instagram, @nepajm. Have a good story you’d like to share? Email us at goodheart@gleanerjm.com.