THE staff of Hoërskool Kempton Park, along with Wildlife in Crisis, saved a six-week-old spotted eagle owl from harms way on Monday.
The owl was found on the ground near the entrance along Mulberry Avenue by workers who were working in the garden. The owl was just sitting on the ground.
“We think the baby owl might have blown out of its nest due to the strong winds over the weekend. The workers told us they had seen a lot of owls in the area. I have seen an owl in the tree close to my classroom,” said teacher Heidi Harmse.
The workers put a bucket over the baby owl to protect it from any harm and notified the staff. One of the teachers, Esme Carstens, phoned Wildlife in Crisis and Vanessa Davis came to rescue the owl. The organisation took the owl into its care.
“At this stage the baby owl is still small and will have to be taken care of by a mother owl. We have a programme for fostered animals which is called Foster Mommies, where the baby owl will be looked after by a female owl until it is big enough to look after itself and be released,” said Davis.
Hoërskool Kempton Park is in the process of getting two owl boxes for the school grounds to look after the owls that nest nearby.
“We are impressed with Vanessa and everyone at Wildlife in Crisis and we urge all community members to be on the look out for our owl population in Kempton Park and get more educated on how to preserve these beautiful species,” said Harmse.
