Northern White-faced Owl (Ptilopsis leucotis)

[guppiecat]

This owl is not on exhibit. It is being kept behind the scenes for breeding purposes. So I was very lucky to see it when it was being brought out for a bit of fresh air.

Zoos do this a lot. Since they’ve become more of conservation centers and less of entertainment complexes, there is a lot that the public doesn’t get to see. This is problematic, because most people can’t support what they don’t know about. And, without that support, it is hard to continue doing the work.

This is a problem that most zoos have yet to solve.

Comments

[nightshade1972.livejournal.com]

Very handsome fellow! The owl, too.

:-)

[maiac.livejournal.com]

I think a lot of the problem is the zoos have more animals than they have exhibit space. The Detroit Zoo has taken in quite a few rescued "exotic" animals, and they always have to shuffle around the population to make room for them. The sloth is in the "rainforest" room of the Amphibian building; the ring-tailed lemurs, fortunately, could co-exist with the ruffed lemurs; the Fennec Foxes took over the meerkats' habitat and the meerkats (which were, themselves, rescued from an illegal trader) are off exhibit...