For the past five months the residents of Bert Close have been expressing their dismay with the state of the Bert Close Park.
The park is unkept, the stream is overgrown and the willow trees need trimming. Furthermore the whole green belt, including the park, is infested by rats that affect the surrounding houses.
Councillor Carl Mann explains that he has been trying tirelessly to convince the relevant role players such as City Parks and Environmental Health to become involved. One of the requests of the residents is that owl boxes be installed.
Unfortunately the process is too slow and now the residents blame Mann for the delay.
“What the residents do not realise is that I am not the government. I can escalate the problem only that much. I had site meetings here with the authorities and had written numerous emails but now it is up to them to do something,” says Mann.
The City announced recently that it has set aside R2,5 million for a project to release owls into areas where there are rat infestations.
Rica van Heerden, Environmental Health Manager, says although she is aware of the residents’ request, the roll-out of the plan is still in its infant stages and it has not been communicated to her department yet.
“Residents are welcome to do it themselves though. We will not stop an initiative by the community,” Van Heerden adds.
The plan to release owls is not welcomed by all though.
According to Brendan Murray of the Owl Rescue Centre there are certain requirements. The owl boxes should be 8-10 metres up in a tree and preferably should face south so that the owls not to get too much sun during the day. The boxes should not be too close to a body of water since the owlets jump the nest when they are five weeks old.
Murray says the owl project will not be a success and does not have the owls’ best interests at heart.
“We often are approached and asked if it is possible to buy an owl to help with a rodent problem – the answer is always the same, no. Our organisation is mistaken regularly for another company that sells owls in an “Owl Box Project” under the banner of conservation. This company is the one that, on an ongoing basis, releases owls into Alexandra (a township just outside Sandton) where owls are being persecuted owing to superstitious cultural beliefs,” says Murray on the Owl Rescue Centre’s facebook page.
Some of Murray’s concerns are that there is no screening process for those buying the owls, the owls are not kept and released in the appropriate way, the boxes in which the owls are kept (for between 4 and 6 weeks) and used to release them are not adequate and the owls are released in areas where they are unwanted and harmed.
Please visit https://www.facebook.com/OwlRescueCentre to see visuals of how these owls are treated in the project.
