A Wood Owl's story... One of the most difficult parts of what we do is dealing with cases of poor husbandry, cruelty, and neglect.
On admission, the Wood Owl was very pale (Top image), had an overgrown beak and talons, damaged feathers, and sores (bumblefoot) under both feet, all from incorrect diet and husbandry. The difference in color between admission and a few weeks later shows the amazing change a correct diet makes and the feet show huge improvement after treatment and correct housing. A much brighter, healthier wood owl is seen in the photo below, taken prior to release.
In our province of Kwazulu-Natal, there are only three permitted wildlife rehabilitation centers - ourselves (FreeMe Wildlife) CROW (based in Durban) and Raptor Rescue (specializing in birds of prey).
But there are numerous back-yard operations where people without experience or access to proper medical facilities try and undertake wildlife rehabilitation.
Sadly, it is only the animals themselves that end up suffering because of this ignorance. And often, by the time they get to us, there is nothing left to do but end the suffering of the animal in question (and this makes us 'The Bad Guys').
Thankfully this story has a happier ending.
A special thank you to the Wild Tomorrow Fund and Karl Kramer for assisting us with this release.
We love what we do, and how we do it.
But we can't do it alone. Let's pull together to help our wildlife. Visit our website to see what you can do to support our work: www.freemewildlife.org/support-us
