Escaped Eagle Owl (1 Viewer)

I suppose most people have read the news story about the escaped Eagle Owl in Wiltshire. What really shocked me was to read in the Independent this morning that, 'It is estimated that there may be 3,000 kept as pets in Britain'.

3,000!

Who does this? Why? How do they give these magnificent birds exercise? They can live 85 years in captivity according to the same article, but what kind of life?

many of these would probably be being kept by falconers, or as aviary subjects. Not as "pets" per se.

Th one near here became a local celebrity for the 6 to 7 months that it was at large and got the title the "Boro Owl" due to living in Middlesbrough Centre. At first it seemed to take great delight at swooping down at the shoppers, but then realised that there was enough Pigeons nearby to keep it well fed. When I used to finish work at midnight I could hear it hooting .

Eventually it was found to be one that had been someones pet and he managed to recatch it in Middlesbrough centre, but during the time it had been missing he had got a female one to replace it, but now hoped that his newly caught one might have little ones with it!
Here is a photo of it http://www.birdforum.net/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=130302

Well, it appears (from a little more research on the internet) that Eagle Owls have been purchased by some fox hunts as it enables them to get around the rules on fox hunting (I'm not particularly pro- or anti- fox hunting myself). But the article on this mentioned 20 hunts.

Other articles said that owl hunting is rather different from hawk/eagle hunting as owls hunt by sound, rather than sight.

Wikipedia says the RSPB tried to get falconry completely banned when the 1981 Wildlife and Countryside bill was being passed, but failed. However, only captive-bred birds are allowed in the UK (so no new captures). Apparently you don't need any kind of licence or permit at all.

A couple of years ago a young child came to stay, and I took her to Osaka zoo. I am rather more anti-zoo (for some animals) now, but even then, the sight of caged raptors was particularly unpleasant - cold concrete with perches and the floor littered with half-eaten frozen mice.

I find it difficult to believe there are 3,000 people in the UK who hunt with Eagle Owls; or that if they do, they hunt with a purpose - i.e. live prey such as pigeons to protect airports or whatever. But I'm willing for someone to give me the facts and prove me wrong.

3000 birds? That´s a pride amount.
Is there realy no regulation if you want hunt with them? Other as falcons or eagles I can not imagine that hunters use them for falconry. But nowadays the are often keept for demonstrations by zoos oder falconers not to hunt with them. The only way to hunt is to put them on a perch in open fields and wait until Corvidaee began to hate on them. Then killing them. I hope it´s to understand what I mean.

British falconry law and Eagle Owl numbers

Here's the link to the article which gives the 3,000 figure:

http://www.independent.co.uk/enviro...our-pets-killer-owl-on-the-loose-1920721.html

Wikipedia (Falconry) on British law:

"In sharp contrast to the US, falconry in Great Britain is permitted without a special license. However, a restriction exists of using only captive-bred birds. In the lengthy, record-breaking debates in Westminster during the passage of the 1981 Wildlife & Countryside Bill, efforts were made by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds and other lobby groups to have falconry outlawed, but these were successfully resisted. After a centuries-old but informal existence in Britain, the sport of falconry was finally given formal legal status in Great Britain by the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, which allowed it to continue provided all captive raptors native to the UK were officially ringed and government-registered. DNA-testing was also available to verify birds' origins. Since 1982 the British government's licensing requirements have been overseen by the Chief Wildlife Act Inspector for Great Britain, who is assisted by a panel of unpaid assistant inspectors.

"British falconers are entirely reliant upon captive-bred birds for their sport."

Here we go again

Thanks MacNara, much appreciated!

Some people hunt foxes with Eagle Owls.

...and who's imagination did the number 3000 come from?

Andy

This figure is probably a slight under-estimate. Forget the fox hunting thing, that only accounts for a small proportion of the birds kept in the UK. There was an idiot near where i used to live in wales who was supposed to be running an owl sanctuary. He used to sell eagle owl to every tom, dick and harry that wanted one. whilst i was involved with the place he probably sold or give away 20 or more, plus one or two that escaped whilst in his 'care'. I left that place 5 years ago so God knows how many he's sold now, plus the ones he sold in the last 25 years he's been keeping birds. Scary!