Owls in Lower Saxony: Red alarm level! Dramatic decline in the barn owls

Owls in Lower Saxony: Red alarm level! Dramatic decline in the barn owls

Uelzen, Niedersachsen, Deutschland - alarm mood in the Eulenland Lower Saxony! The Nature Conservation Association (NABU) beats the big bell: The number of owls in the Uelzen district disappears dramatically! A spokesman for the NABU reports that only around 360 young veils were counted in the nesting boxes - a decline that shocked, because in 2019 there were almost three times as many! What is behind this worrying trend?

The reason for owl death? Heavy rain in spring has massively affected the food base of the feathered hunters. Many field mice that serve as the main source of food drowned in the water masses. In addition, farmers were only able to work on their soaked fields late, which meant that the remaining mice could hide in the high vegetation. A vicious circle that brings the owls into a dangerous location!

Hope for a mild winter

But that's not all! The NABU also warns of another problem: in new development areas there are fewer and fewer protected breeding sites for the owls. But not all farmers stand by the fact that many offer breeding sites in their barns in cooperation with the NABU. Hope dies last: NABU relies on a mild winter, because the barn owls have hardly been able to create fat tissue this year. A hard winter could have fatal consequences for the owls!

The Situation is tense and the future of the owls is on the brink. The dramatic declines urgently need to be taken seriously, because the owls are an important part of our ecosystem!