Injured young owl rescued

Pedestrians found a young long-eared owl in the castle park of Schönbrunn, Vienna. The owl was sitting on the floor and was attacked by crows. She was taken to the “owl and birds of prey institution” of Haringsee (district of Gänserndorf, Lower Austria).

The pedestrians rescued the long-eared owl. The owl was examined in the Veterinary Medical University of Vienna. The animal had slight injuries at the back of the head and was taken to the “owl and birds of prey station” of Haringsee (EGS).

Adoptive parents now raise the young owl until it will be released into nature again.

“We assume that its biological parents were near, but did not dare to defend their offspring due to the masses of people in Schönbrunn”, Hans Frey, head of EGS said.

“However, the adoption worked without problems and the young owl is well”, Mr Frey went on.

Around 250 young birds per year are rescued at the EGS. The institution is also supported by Vier Pfoten, an Austrian society for the prevention of cruelty to animals.

The special thing about the EGS is that the birds are raised by adoptive parents and almost all of them are released later on. The EGS is the only nursing ward where young birds are raised by birds of the same bird species.