Sanctuary Deems Rescued Owl "Too Fat To Fly"

Suffolk Owl Sanctuary has deemed a rescued owl "too fat to fly" when it was brought in from a ditch and thought to be injured... turns out, the owl wasn't injured and simply too chonky to fly.

The little owl, known as a Athene noctua, was examined by staff and they found it to be "simply extremely obese" and "unable to fly effectively" as a result of that.

So even so the owl isn't injury, it's still good that it's at the sanctuary where they can regulate its diet and he it achieve a more "natural weight" and thus, able to fly once more.

Good luck, little guy! We believe in you!

Story via BBC

Posted by AmyBrown

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Apparently, the chonky owl was weighed, and found to be roughly a third heavier than they would expect a large healthy female little owl to be.

Via BBC / Suffolk Owl Sanctuary
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The sanctuary said it was "extremely unusual for wild birds to get into this condition naturally".

Head falconer, Rufus Samkin, said, "Where she was found is very productive land, and it's been a mild winter and there's a lot of food around - voles, mice. We think she's just done incredibly well for herself and overindulged."
According to Samkin, the owl had lost already between 20g and 30g, over the last few weeks in their care by monitoring its food intake.
"We may see her again - we hope not," said Mr Samkin. "Hopefully, she's learnt to keep her weight in trim so she can escape any predators or being picked up."

Via BBC / Suffolk Owl Sanctuary
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