In South Africa’s St Helena Bay, seven barn owl chicks have been rescued from the brink of death and are in urgent need of intensive care and rehabilitation. Found alone in a nest, starved and dehydrated, these chicks were rushed to our partner on the ground, the Owl Orphanage, where its founder, Jacques Nel, worked for hours on end to stabilize them. But they have a long journey ahead of them and need our help. We have promised to assist so that these chicks can recover and be released back into the wild, but we need your support to raise the $2,650 (£2,000) they urgently need.

Birds of prey are disappearing alarmingly fast, and the barn owl is no exception. They were once found in every part of the world except the polar regions, but now they are on a dangerous decline across almost their entire range. We CANNOT LET THESE SEVEN DIE! They need round-the-clock care, feeding every two hours and a safe, calm and warm environment to recover in. The owl orphanage is up to the task but they need our help now!

Reported by concerned people who heard desperate calling from a nest box, four shivering, dehydrated and starved barn owl chicks were found huddled together, crying and covered in filth. Next to them lay three more bodies, too weak to stand or even cry. They were rushed to the sanctuary where Jacques immediately began attempting to revive them. After half an hour, the three babies finally showed signs of life! It took three days before they could slowly begin to stand up on their own.

One more day and they would have all been dead!

Barn owls are critically important to the environment – they control rodent populations, which helps to keep the environment balanced, protects our vital food crops from destruction and helps to prevent disease outbreaks. But barn owls are disappearing fast, and we must do everything we can to ensure the survival of these babies. Please, donate today to give these seven baby barn owls a chance at life.

Barn owls do not abandon their young – we can only imagine that something terrible happened to the breeding pair.

For the first few weeks of their lives, the helpless owl chicks must be fed every two to three hours. Both parents hunt continuously during this time to make sure the whole family has enough to eat. Miraculously, these chicks were able to cling to life for days without food. But they are extremely weak and will need weeks of intensive care to recover.

We do not know what happened to the chicks’ parents, but we do know that something must have gone terribly wrong. Barn owls mate for life and are very attentive parents. There are simply no normal circumstances under which they would abandon their young. There is nothing we can do for the parents, but we have a real chance of saving these seven baby barn owls.

Habitat destruction, vilification and poisoning … barn owl populations
are destabilizing worldwide.

Barn owls need wide-open areas like grasslands for their nesting sites, but these are shrinking quickly as human developments encroach further and further into the remaining wilderness areas that they rely on. This is having a devastating effect on barn owl populations, and sadly, is not the only threat they face…

In Africa, many cultures believe that if a barn owl lands on your roof, it signifies that a family member will die the next day. As a result, people see them as harbingers of death and kill them willfully to ‘protect’ their families. Poisons intended to control pests very often kill barn owls too. Poisoned rodents are eaten by owls before succumbing to the poison, thereby poisoning the unknowing owl too. If an owl ingests even a small amount of poison, it can affect the owl’s ability to fly, hunt and nest, and the poor creature will eventually die of starvation.

With your help today, we will ensure that we help these seven baby chicks get the constant care and special food they so desperately need to survive!