News

Spotted Eagle Owls – They grow up so fast

RKG: Spotted Eagle Owl (Bubo africanus) eggs hatch between 30 and 32 days and develop into fully fledged owlets in the next 45 to 55 days.

Spotted Eagle Owls: Keep the romance alive

RKG: Giving a Hoot – An article on the courtship behaviour of spotted eagle owls.

Spotted Eagle Owls new start

The shortest day is significant for Spotted Eagle Owls (Bubo africanus) as the change in the photoperiod is the hormonal trigger that ‘kicks’ them into breeding condition.

Spring Newsletter 2016

'It is spring again. The earth is like a child that knows poems" Rainer Maria Rilke

St Andrew's School for Girls releases Spotted Eagle Owlets

Two juvenile Spotted Eagle Owls from the SPCA have found a new home at the school. The owls were brought to the school on 25th October and will stay in a pen for 21 days before being released.

St Benedict’s College schoolboy fights rodent infestation with barn owl boxes

''A Grade 9 schoolboy, Kavin Kassie, from St. Benedict’s College, has championed an owl box initiative to combat a rodent problem at Marlboro Secondary School.''

Stables provide the perfect place for growing owlets

Two Barn Owl chicks were ringed thanks to a decade of dedicated monitoring and regular owl box servicing. This is exactly why annual maintenance matters - for the owls and for long-term conservation.

Starke Ayres - Creating a safe haven for owls

Started in 2016, this has been such a valuable and worthwhile collaboration. Results from our annual owl pellet collection and analysis reveal that the 15 occupied owl boxes at Starke Ayres are responsible for the consumption of over 9000 rats p/a.

Sterilisation Deaths: Lab Tests Confirm Rat Poison

Lab tests have confirmed that tablets linked to the deaths of more than a dozen women who underwent sterilisation surgery at a government-run camp in Chhattisgarh contained a chemical compound commonly used in rat poison, official sources said on Thursday.

Stop Publishing Fake News About Bats

Yes, bats can transmit diseases – but you are extremely unlikely to be infected by one. Why fake news about bats is dangerous to their survival. Von Merlin Tuttle, Austin

Students relate all things beneficial about owls

Students from China and Marlboro Gardens Combined School exchange knowledge about owls and their benefits to the environment and community.

Successes and a little sadness

Check out our Spring newsletter.

Suffolk barn owls recovering after 'terrible year'

Barn owl numbers in Suffolk are recovering after a "truly terrible year", Suffolk Wildlife Trust has said.

"Super-Toxic" Rat Poison Sale Banned in California to Protect Wildlife

There’s a change coming to California stores that may help protect wildlife.

Syrian boy catches Israeli barn owl and sets it free

Owl, raised in a joint government-Tel Aviv University project, had an identifying ring; boy posts find in online birdwatching forum.

The Dove of Peace Is Ailing. Meet Israel's Barn Owl of Bonhomie

Uncover the unsung heroes of urban biodiversity! 🌱🦉 Delve into this captivating piece shedding light on Israel's barn owl community and their significant impact on fostering harmony and sustainability.

The Social Language of Bats

An interesting article from the Merlin Tuttle Bat Conservation on how bats use social calls to communicate. Researchers are uncovering the complexity of bat vocalisations, showing that their sounds have meanings similar to human speech.

"The use of drones for mosquito surveillance and control"

"The novel use of drones (or uncrewed aerial vehicles) may play a major role in the success of mosquito surveillance and control programmes in the coming decades since the global landscape of mosquito-borne diseases and disease dynamics fluctuates frequently and there could be serious public health consequences if the issues of insecticide resistance and outdoor transmission are not adequately addressed."

The vulnerable bats of Biak-na-Bato

"The Department of Environment and Natural Resources-Central Luzon (DENR-CL) announced in October the arrest of four alleged wildlife poachers, who were caught with 6,200 wrinkle-lipped bats (Chaerephon plicatus) they took from Bahay Paniki Cave inside the Biak-na-Bato National Park (BNBNP) in San Miguel, Bulacan, one of the oldest protected areas (PAs) in the country."

The winds of change

Despite unresolved issues, Durban is still going ahead with its wind turbine project - slap bang in the middle of the Beachfront