It’s a rare sight the public just might find calming, watching a pair of Northern Spotted Owls on web cam care for a month-old chick.
The chick was hatched at a captive breeding centre in the Lower Mainland.
Owls Shania and Scud have been fostering the chick after it hatched on April 15 from an incubated egg that was laid on March 11.
Northern Spotted Owls are Canada’s most endangered owl and efforts are being made by the Fish and Wildlife Compensation Program (FCWP) to fund captive breeding and rearing of them.
The FWCP is helping fund the captive breeding and rearing of these owls and funding a project to restore habitat for them in the Bridge-Seton watershed near Lillooet.
In partnership with BC Hydro, the Province of B.C., Fisheries and Oceans Canada, First Nations and public stakeholders, FCWP funds projects to conserve and enhance fish and wildlife in 14 watersheds in its coastal region.
One of the reasons the Northern Spotted Owl is at risk in Canada is due to a variety of human activities such as timber harvesting and human settlement, including the creation of reservoirs, FWCP notes on its website.
“That’s why FWCP is involved: our mission is to conserve and enhance fish and wildfire impacted by BC Hydro dams.”