Spotted eagle owls find new homes in Van Riebeeck Park
'Through this initiative, we want to create awareness in the community and that they should be alert for such owls in the area,' says René Reichel, chairperson for Kempton Park AfriForum Youth.
Kempton Park AfriForum Youth showed they care about nature and its creatures through their owl project.
Through the project, the youth organised for the installation of two owl boxes in the open field on Soutpansberg Drive in Van Riebeeck Park.
“These boxes are for spotted eagle owls, which are among the endangered species. We just wanted to help rescue and protect them through these boxes,” said René Reichel, chairperson for Kempton Park AfriForum Youth.
“Through this initiative, we wanted to create awareness in the community and that they should be alert for such owls in the area.”
The spotted eagle owl is one of the smallest of the eagle owls.
The organisation appeals to the community to avoid using rat poison because owls are known for eating rats and should the owls eat a poisoned rat, they too could die.
The boxes were received from Owl Rescue Centre that also installed the boxes in two different trees about 100m from each other.
The distance is due to the fact that owls, especially of the same kind, are territorial and need a good distance from each other. However, the rescue team told Express one caould install a barn owl box closer to a spotted eagle owl box and there wouldn’t be a problem, but there can’t be two barn owl boxes close to each other.
The owl boxes are made from recycled material.
“We use nine two-litre plastic milk bottles to make one box,” said Jonathan Chilwa from Owl Rescue Centre. “We collect, recycle and use any plastic milk and cold drink bottles and plastic bags to make these boxes.”
The non-profit organisation, that is dedicated to the protection of owls and other birds of prey in South Africa, also make and install bat boxes.
