First offspring of the hawk owl in the Leipzig Zoo in 11 years!

First offspring of the hawk owl in the Leipzig Zoo in 11 years!

Zoo Leipzig, 04103 Leipzig, Deutschland - in the Leipzig zoo, there is reason to be happy: after eleven long years without young talent, two small hawk owl slipped in early May. This important owl chick event not only represents breeding success, but is also a real milestone in species protection, since the species in Germany was considered extinct 200 years ago. The zookeepers noticed a striking behavior of the male, which became increasingly vigilant, which ultimately led to the discovery of two eggs in the nest. Only shortly afterwards the little chicks were allowed to take their first steps in the aviary of the Leopard Valley and slowly obtain self-confidence there. Visitors can already observe the young birds where they are courageously under the eyes of the audience - a positive turn for the traditionally shy -shy nocturnal birds, who are usually happy to hide, reports thueringen24.de .

hawk owl are a very rare owl species that is not endangered worldwide, but was eradicated in Germany over 100 years ago. The last exact copy was killed in the Bohemian Forest in 1926. Thanks to various resettlement projects, such as in the Bavarian Forest National Park, the species has been stabilized in recent years. Here the population grew to around 15 to 20 couples by 2014, especially through release in northeast Bavaria. Such a project also ran in the Wienerwald, which could also form the basis for the small garden dwellers from Leipzig, such as Freepresse.de reported.

a step into freedom

Now the Leipzig zoo plans to hand over the young birds to Austria in a resettlement project. The time for this is not yet clear, but preparations are in full swing. Breeding and resettlement success will support the next steps for the return of the hawk owl into freedom. This is particularly important because regional populations still remain fragile. The project in the Wienerwald is a clear indicator of how sensible such measures are to stabilize the stocks and thus enable future hawkauz encounters in nature, bundesforste.at Together.