Long-eared owl – Stařík and Hubert

Description

People found him weakened by the roadside and brought him to our Prague Wildlife Rescue Centre. On examination we discovered the owl was blind in one eye. He probably lost part of his sight after a collision with a car. Because of this handicap the bird could not be released back into the wild, as he would not be able to catch prey there. After several months of treatment at the centre he was moved to the zoo corner. He found his bearings in his aviary well: he flies from branch to branch without difficulty and reaches his food perfectly well. Solitude did not suit him, though — as long as he was alone in the aviary he was restless and easily startled. After the younger owl Hubert arrived he calmed down, and his mood and appetite improved as well.

Hubert the long-eared owl reached the zoo corner from our rescue centre much as Stařík did. In 2017, as a nestling, he had the misfortune to fall out of his nest. When a strong wind blows, or bird siblings jostle one another or learn to fly, that sort of accident can easily happen. Because Hubert was still too small to look after himself and had badly injured his wing in the fall, the keepers at the rescue centre took him in, standing in for his parents and feeding him until he grew up. Even then his permanent handicap meant he could not return to the wild. He was given another, very important job instead: he became an assistant to our environmental education tutors and helped teach children from Prague schools, and the Prague public, about wild animals and their protection. In 2020 he moved to the zoo corner, where he now enjoys a peaceful rest and keeps company with Stařík, whom solitude did not suit.

The long-eared owls already have these adoptive parents:

Hubert the long-eared owl already has these adoptive parents: