From BBC

Rare owl spotted in wild after zoo escape

A large owl that is rarely seen in the UK has been spotted in a Wolverhampton tourist spot after escaping from a nearby zoo.

The female Verreaux’s Milky eagle owl has been sighted perched in the pine trees of Wightwick Manor and Gardens, in what has been described by a wildlife enthusiast as “basically impossible”.

The huge bird of prey, which is native to southern parts of Africa, had escaped while on loan for a breeding programme at Wild Zoological Park - about seven miles (11km) away.

After several unsuccessful rescue attempts, it has been agreed by the National Trust, which runs the site, that she can stay in her new home.

A spokesperson said: “She is unlikely to be a threat to the ecological balance in the area, no more so than any other avian predator, such as falcons or buzzards, or a fox. We will keep an eye on wildlife in the area as part of our routine checks and keep in contact with Wild Zoological Park.”

“It’s important that members of the public remember she is a wild animal and should be treated as such; with respect and admiration from a distance.”

Visitors have taken to social media to share their sightings of the “majestic” bird which caught the eye of local wildlife content creator James Cook.

“It’s a very imposing, impressive thing to see. I was in awe,” he told the BBC.

The 31-year-old from Leamington Spa added: "I’ve seen them in South Africa and spoke to a couple of people who said that it’s been here for about three years on and off.

“After a quick search, there it was, sitting in the tree looking all majestic and glorious.”

The Verreaux’s Milky Eagle Owl are among the biggest and heaviest of all of the owls, the Owls Trust has said.

As apex predators, owls sit at the top of the food chain and play a pivotal role in maintaining ecological balance.

They serve as natural regulators of rodent numbers, curbing potential ecological imbalances caused by unchecked populations.

Cook, who travels the UK in search of “weird and wonderful wildlife”, often posts his findings across his social media pages under the name Wildlife With Cookie. On Instagram he has more than 166,000 followers.

He said: “They don’t get here naturally, so it’s basically impossible to spot them in the UK in the wild but, this one would have escaped from somewhere nearby. It’s super mega rare. It’s the only one I’ve seen in the UK.”

  • anon6789OP
    8·
    7 months ago

    Poo on Verreaux.

    I haven’t read the full thing yet, but I skimmed this doc I found quickly looking for something to fill you guys in on the brothers Verreaux and why they are not popular these days and why there are ongoing efforts to rename animals named after people. No need for beautiful animals like this owl to have the name of some people who did some pretty not great stuff.

    TL;DR - They were racists that trafficked human bodies (and possibly living people) for pseudoscience entertainment.

      • anon6789OP
        4·
        7 months ago

        Update since the linked article was written in 2002.

        A few years ago, I went to the Carnegie Museum and heard this piece was there. That’s when I first learned the full story.

        There is a rather extensive Wikipedia article about the display due to its long controversial nature. There was indeed human remains still inside the replacement human model, and it remained on display until the end of 2023. (Pictures of the display are in the article. You don’t see the skull or anything, but if you don’t want to see an object containing that kind of thing, don’t click.)

        In 2016, Lion Attacking a Dromedary was restored by the museum for a second time. As part of the restoration, the museum conducted tests on the animals using X-rays and DNA analysis techniques of the taxidermied animals to determine if they were genuine.[2] Verreaux was known to fake records to inflate the selling price of his dioramas.[10] The human figure was determined to be mostly synthetic, but, to the surprise of the museum, the head contained a human skull.[4] It is unknown to whom the skull belongs or from where Verreaux collected the skull.[2] Previously, it was thought that the human figure was only made of plaster, but there was some speculation that there could be human remains in the diorama.[11][5] When asked about the chances of there being human remains in the male figure in 2009, the museum denied it was a possibility stating that “European sensibilities would not have embraced an exhibit that used human parts, even in 1867”.[5]

        In January 2017, the diorama went back on display in the foyer of the museum, after the museum rejected a proposal to move the diorama to the Carnegie Museum of Art and show it with other orientalist art.[12] While the piece was moved, the name was changed from Arab Courier Attacked by Lions to Lion Attacking a Dromedary to better contextualize the piece.[2][13] As a part of the unveiling, the Carnegie Museum of Natural History hosted a symposium about the restoration, the diorama, and its misrepresentation of North Africa.[6]

        Recontextualization and removal In July 2020, the Carnegie Museum of Natural History removed Lion Attacking a Dromedary from view citing the Black Lives Matter movement and the lack of accuracy.[13] Patrons were given a choice to view the diorama behind a curtain starting in September 2020 and the museum considered moving the diorama to a part of the museum where it could be avoided.[14][15] That remained the status quo until July 2021 when Lion Attacking a Dromedary was returned to public view with additional context.[14] The decision to do so was made because, according to the museum’s director “I think the curtains were more harmful than not having them up at all”.[14] In October 2023 the museum adopted a new policy regarding the display of human remains. Because the diorama has a human skull in it the museum has removed the exhibit from public display.[16] There are efforts being made to determine the origin of the skull and repatriate the remains.[17]

        I know there has been other recent news of England returning human remains stolen by outsiders, so I hope the same can be done with those that have made their way to America.

    • Optional
      2·
      7 months ago

      Agreed. Also agreed, however, that “Milky” isn’t focus-group testing well at all.

      Lemmy Eagle Owl it is.

      • anon6789OP
        2·
        7 months ago

        It isn’t my favorite name either, but a lot of animal names are pretty bad.

        Screech Owl doesn’t screech. American Barn Owl is Tyto furcata, which means forked-tail, but it does not have a forked tail. The adorable Boreal Owl is Aegolius funereus, meaning a funeral bird of ill omen, when it’s the cousin of the cute little Saw Whet. The ones with onomatopoeia names or named after where they are actually found are probably the best animal names. Animal nerds seem to not be good at naming things.