Hawk owls brought to Austria from Leipzig Zoo

Two Ural owl chicks that hatched at Leipzig Zoo are soon to be released into the wild in Austria. The almost three-month-old young birds were brought to the Alpine country this week, the zoo announced. There, they are part of a large reintroduction project that aims to ensure the survival of the species in Austrian forests.

"We are proud to be able to support this important project with our first breeding of Ural owls," explained species conservation officer Michael Meyerhoff. The hawk owl reintroduction is being led by
a team of researchers led by ornithologist Richard Zink at the Konrad Lorenz Institute at the University of Vienna and supported by numerous institutions and zoos.

First acclimatization, then release

According to the zoo, the two Leipzig hawk owls will first be acclimatized in a release aviary in the Wienerwald reintroduction area. After that, the birds will have to survive independently in their natural habitat. However, they are monitored - and supported with food in the early stages.

According to the zoo, the Ural owl is listed as critically endangered in the European
Birds Directive. In the middle of the 20th century, the great owl was even considered extinct in Germany and Austria.

Bavarian Forest as a role model

In Austria, the birds are to be reintroduced in the Vienna Woods Biosphere Reserve and the Dürrenstein Wilderness Area. They offer the newcomers optimal survival conditions. The project is based on a successful reintroduction in the Bavarian Forest National Park since the 1970s.