Oddities
Bizarre brain food to sate your inner geek.
Brought to you by the geeks at ABC News, Oddities explores the outer reaches of the wacky, weird world of sci-tech.
RECENT POSTS
MONTHLY ARCHIVES
| Sun | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ||||||
| 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 |
| 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 |
| 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 |
| 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 |
| 30 |
« Previous | Main | Next »
An Owl's Secret Past
July 11, 2008 7:48 PM
Athena’s secret past was one that even she didn’t know about.
Before arriving at the San Francisco Zoo three years ago, the Eurasian eagle owl with salt-and-pepper feathers began her journey disguised as an Easter egg that was smuggled into the country from Austria. A true survivor, she is one of only three hatched from a lot of 15 eggs.
"It’s really amazing," said agent Sean Hamm. "Besides crossing the Pacific in an Easter basket, the eggs were even blasted with radiation and put through the X-ray detection machine at the airport, which should have killed the eggs."
Eurasian eagle owls can be kept as pets in the United States, but a proper license is required. And since they can spread foreign diseases, there are strict laws that can prevent their importation. A live bird may fetch $5,000 and the smuggler, Jeffrey Diaz, seemed to have pulled off the scheme until informants turned him in to authorities.
But instead of being released to her natural habitat, Athena will likely spend the rest of her life at the zoo -- and much of it away from other birds. "She grew up with people from day one," bird curator Harrison Edell told ABCNews.com. "She doesn’t recognize she’s a different species than us."
The social norms among predatory birds like the owls are strict and they can be aggressive towards each other, says Edell. Introducing her to other owls, he says, would likely get her beat up. Also, if Athena ever came across a male who wanted to mate, she most likely would be "very confused."
And while Athena’s comfort in interacting with humans has made her an ideal candidate to be brought into the classroom as part of the zoo’s Animal Ambassador program, Edell finds that "there’s something kind of sad about her never being able to go back into the wild."
July 11, 2008 | Permalink | User Comments (7)
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.typepad.com/t/trackback/433071/31128294
Listed below are links to weblogs that reference An Owl's Secret Past :
animals have instincts, I'm sure meeting a male wouldn't leave her totally confused for long. they do have some natural instincts, give animals some credit.
Posted by: R.L. | Jul 12, 2008 4:21:24 PM
I think the only confusion she would have is "WHO"?
Posted by: Rickster in Gulfport, FL | Jul 12, 2008 5:05:56 PM
How does an owl get smuggled in from Austria over the Pacific? Either it's Australia, or it's the Atlantic...
Posted by: Sheila | Jul 12, 2008 6:12:07 PM
Sheila's perceptive! Indeed, where did the Pacific come in, unless the traveler doing the smuggling decided to stop somewhere in the Far East, but that might mean more X-rays.
Posted by: Mickey | Jul 12, 2008 7:18:36 PM
R.L. is right. She may be a bit slower than most, but give her a day and she'd have his marital status, banking history and a credit card in her name. Women Owls are ruthless!
Posted by: Blackbug99 | Jul 12, 2008 10:54:26 PM
To R.L., Rickster, And Blackbug99: Unfortunately, the article is correct. Birds raised by humans become "imprinted", and truly believe that they are the same species. If a male owl approached her, she would probably chase it away. She might even try to kill it.
Posted by: Ernie Mercer | Jul 12, 2008 11:37:53 PM
No, I realize that this bird is destined to spend its days in captivity.
Just a feeble attempt at being funny.
You are right, and it is sad that this animal will never know its natural birthright to be free.
Posted by: Rickster in Gulfport, FL | Jul 14, 2008 12:56:49 PM
Post a comment
