Article Date: 2012-06-26
British Columbia, Canada
With the aid of an incubator, a northern spotted male owlet has been given birth to by a captive owl mother. The birth of this endangered animal was assisted by observatory workers; who are refreshed to see new beginnings for the northern spotted species.
Through years of habitat loss and irregular logging practices, just 13 individual owls are held in the Langley conservatory, as well as 10 in the southwest of British Columbia. These numbers do not compare well to the 500 pairs before Europeans settled in the areas.
The ministry of environment and Mountain View of Langley have gone two years without a single birth from the captive owls. The success this time is owed to the use of tactful egg and sperm experimentation, and the use of incubators after the eggs were laid. Though just one egg survived from the original three laid, it is still a success that the one survivor will continue to reproduce.
This spring, 5 female owls laid 6 fertile eggs, 4 infertile eggs, and had one successful birth.
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