KIKO, a baby Marsh Owl, just over a month old, was protected with her sibling by their mother when a farmer in the South accidentally caught her while baling grass. The mother succumbed to her injuries leaving her two orphaned chicks.
The farmer took the two tiny chicks to Nicole Athanassiou, who works and lives at Thornbirds Conference and Wedding Centre in Eikenhof. Nicole is known for her love of all animals and has hand reared others who have been orphaned.
“I named one Kiki and the other Kiko. Both were doing quite well but Kiki had a damaged wing and died after about 10 days and Kiko was left alone. I heard about Thaba Eco Hotel’s André du Toit, who is the game park manager at Thaba and how he had successfully reared three black-shouldered Kites and successfully set them free. He advised me to bring her there and would carry on rearing her while she was learning to fend for herself,” Nicole said.
Kiko has been at Thaba for about two weeks and is growing well. “She eats day old chicks which I cut up small for her and soon we’ll introduce baby mice. Once she can eat and digest these, we’ll give her live feed until she can successfully catch her own food and then she’ll be released back into the wild,” added André and Malcolm Vermeulen (environmental eco manager at Thaba).
At weekends Kiko goes home with either André or Malcolm. “She’s still too young to leave alone for a weekend and with the cold weather, being on her own, she has no other owl to keep her warm.”
For now Kiko lives in an aviary on Thaba Eco Hotel’s property, which is well hidden from the public’s eye, but when the CHRONICLE reporter went to “interview” her she was extremely at ease and friendly. Her sex hasn’t yet been determined because she’s too young but I’m sure she’s a girl because of her coyness and how she shows off.
Readers may remember the article on the three black-shouldered Kites (Comaro CHRONICLE, May 18, front page) who were being reared at Thaba. The three were successfully released about two weeks ago. “We left the aviary door open and still left food for them on the roof of the aviary. That way if they couldn’t catch their own food they could still survive. After four nights the food remained on the roof and we knew they were fine on their own and were hunting for themselves. We’ve seen them sitting on the lightning conductor and while conducting eco drives so we know they are living around here,” said André.
The CHRONICLE will follow Kiko’s story and keep you updated.
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