Verreaux Eagle Owl Grunt

His story

When Grunt was brought to us, he was a little feathery ball, quite exhausted and almost at it’s end.
Apparently a pair of eagles killed and ate the other hatchling, this one was seen jumping from the nest, right into the middle of a Maasai village. Immediately one of our elephant caregivers, Eliah, coincidentally on leave in his home village, jumped to the rescue before any dogs could grab an extra meal.
The chick looked intact so Eliah and his friends tried to unite parents and chick, but sadly this proved impossible . The nest was far too high and couldn’t be reached by a human. Placing the wobbly chick on a branch wouldn’t have helped either and they feared it would fall. Additionally the parents had disappeared and were nowhere to be seen, not unusual after disturbance around the nest.
To our surprise, Eliah appeared in the middle of his leave with this little guy at our clinic.
After a few critical days the chick was gaining strength again. It will take a long time but it has already started to learn owl behavior – during the day it’s watching Panya, the adult Verreaux Eagle Owl, from the safety of a double-wall cage (a cage within a larger cage), whereas during the night it’s sitting under a warm red light.
We aim to have him ready for release in a protected area in about 12 months time, the period these owls will spend with their parents.
End of 2022: Successfully released at Makoa Farm

Released at Makoa Farm

Gender:

s/he hasn’t told us yet…

Reason for rehab:

fell out of nest and wasn’t able to be placed back

Rescue date:

September 2021

Age at rescue:

baby owlett

Rescue location:

West Kilimanjaro

Favorite food:

little pieces of mice and rats