Rescue of the hawk owl: an impressive return to the game!

Rescue of the hawk owl: an impressive return to the game!

A remarkable success for the hawk owl: In Carinthia, an injured female was released into freedom after successful treatment. The 70 centimeter tall bird of prey had previously been brought to the Adlerarena Landskron in Villach, where Franz Schüttelkopf took care of the injured owl. After several days of therapy and the supply of broken bones, the animal was finally able to return to its ancestral territory. „Es war ein bewegender Moment“, sagte Schüttelkopf, der den Fortschritt des Vogels miterleben durfte, wie oe24.at berichtete.

But that's not all: An important chapter for the hawk owl population was opened around 370 kilometers further in Bavaria. The Association for Landscape Care and Species Protection in Bavaria (VLAB) announced that 23 Junge Habichtskäuze had been released in the forests of the Upper Palatinate and Upper Franconia. These animals come from offspring in zoos and wildlife parks in Germany and France and are part of a resettlement project that was launched in 2017. A total of over 100 hawk owls have been sent to freedom since then, as reported. The VLAB wants to ensure by the DNA sequencing that the genetic variety of population is preserved.

technological progress in research

New this year is the extension of nine of the released hawk owl with GPS devices. These small, just 26 gram devices are barely noticeable for the birds and enable scientists to monitor flight behavior and the movement of the owl. "Telemetry is a progress for our project to gain insights into the life of the hawk owl after its release," said Johannes Bradtka, the chairman of the VLAB. The first results are expected soon. The mortality rate for the released birds is between 40 and 50 percent, with traffic accidents being the most common cause of death. Under these conditions, the efforts to protect and resettlement are more crucial than ever for the survival of this impressive owl species.