When zoo keepers at the Zoo Osnabrück in Germany observed that the Snowy Owl mother was no longer incubating her three laid eggs, they took it out and placed it in an incubator.
By the time the owlets were hatched, they were hand-raised by the keepers.
“I had to feed them four times a day. They cried for attention and craned their beaks, demanding food. You can hear them before you see them,” said Andreas Wulftange, research associate, according to Zoo Borns.
Currently, the staff is teaching the owls to balance on logs and to be predatory birds. They are also starting to hop in their aviary.
The Snowy Owl (Bubo scandiacus) is a large white owl that is highly nomadic. Their movements depend on the location of their prey, which is lemmings and small rodents. The owls are currently classified as “Least Concern” on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, but they are facing threats from climate change that may affect both their habitat and their prey.
