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What’s In A Name?
Each year Munda
Wanga receives many owl chicks. Most of them are Barn owls or
Spotted Eagle owls, the most common species found around Lusaka.
Often nests of owls are found in office buildings, barns or
workshops, where they trouble the human occupants with their smell
and mess. Tragically, we frequently hear stories that owls are
killed because they are associated with witchcraft. Having raised
increasing numbers of them, we know that this is a myth. In fact,
owls are very useful and are great to have around your barn or
workshop. At night when you go out or go to bed, the owls wake up
and patrol your premises. They catch those little thieves that want
to steal some of your maize or eat some of your stock. With their
sharp eyes they have excellent night vision and spot every movement.
When they catch a glimpse of a rat sniffing around your place, they
leave their perch and glide, without making the slightest sound, and
catch the little critter!
 So
far this year Munda Wanga has received more than 20 owl chicks, all
of them barn owls. The latest was a nest of five, some of them only
a few days old. These were confiscated from someone who was trying
to sell them and was carrying them around in a plastic bag! So these
poor young ones were removed from their nest and taken away from
their parents who could have successfully raised them. For Munda
Wanga it’s not easy to raise the young. They know that you are not
one of them, start hissing at you and sometimes won’t even eat.
Owls are
monogamous, which means that they have a partner for life. Year
after year they will raise their chicks together. Dad goes hunting
while mom stays at the nest to protect the young. Owls are also
residential birds and will come back to the same nesting place every
year.
Owls perch on the
branch of a tree or high in the roof of your barn. During the day
they look down and check what is going on, before continuing their
sleep. Their eyes follow you wherever you go, checking if you do
right or wrong. Their heads can turn 270 degrees because of their 14
vertebrae, the bones in their necks. Humans only have 7!
One of the five
owls that arrived recently, tries to hide every time we try to feed
them and refuses to wake up. Even when we move her to the other side
of the box, she runs back and dives under her brothers and sisters.
Only after about 20 minutes does she finally open her eyes and
decide she’s ready to eat. It reminded me of my sister, and
therefore we called her Karlijn. When my sister needs to get out of
bed, it takes a really long time before she can bring herself to
wake up. Most of the time it’s better to leave her alone until she
decides she’s ready. You see, we humans have our own characters, but
so have the owls!
 Most
of the young owls that Munda Wanga receives are raised by hand and
after a few months released back into the wild, where we hope their
natural instincts will teach them to survive, meet a life-long
partner and in turn, raise their own chicks. If you find a nest, the
best thing to do is to leave it where it is, but if you would like
further advice on what to do, please contact us. Anyone willing to
assist with the release programme, please contact Munda Wanga on 021
1 278456 or sanctuary AT zamnet.zm. |
July
2007