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in the uk
habitat degradation and climate change
are taking their toll with many species
survival
reliant more and more on dedicated
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individuals
now the uk may seem like a relatively
small tiny
island but it is an island home to some
spectacular wildlife
but like many species found around the
world the animals that live here are
also in steep decline
and that’s because of habitat
degradation farming practices
and of course climate change in this
series we will be visiting
the people on the front line of
conservation here
and around the world the people that are
ensuring our wildlife stands a fighting
chance
we have traveled to the heart of devon
where a team of committed
conservationists
are striving to protect an iconic
species of the british countryside
we are here with the bar now trust who
today are relocating a barn owl they’ve
been caring for for the last five weeks
so he can be released back into the wild
but first one of their conservation
officers
rick lockwood has the task of catching
the barn owl
so we’re now going to go and get the bar
now ready for release and first we need
to go into the hospital
where rick is here and he’s getting the
box ready
the team aimed to release as many sick
and injured owls back into the wild as
possible
like this one today this hour was picked
up by a member of the public this bird
was a fallen outlet so
it had prematurely left the nest box was
then brought to us
and we’ve spent now about five weeks
increasing its body weight
and it’s been in the navy so it can
learn and strengthen it
it’s flying and now it’s ready to go
back into the wild
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i think if the bird hadn’t been picked
up that day it would have died
it was very weak and underweight it’s
great when you can actually get
to release it now back into the wild
yeah unlock this for you
before the owl can be translocated rick
will perform
final checks to ensure he’s in good
health and fit for release
you don’t realize how small they
actually are until you see them close up
i’ve only ever seen them
flying around in the wild but they are
they’re tiny aren’t they
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holding bags like this are used when
dealing with many wild bird species
in order to enable teams to perform
health checks
covering the eyes minimizes the stress
for the animal
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then after the hour passes with flying
colours
he is then ready to travel back home
the barnard trust used mobile aviaries
to transport the owls back
into the area in which they were
originally rescued from
so we’re taking the bird back and
releasing it at the site where it was
hatched where his parents bird had their
nest
and while we’re there we’ll have a look
at the nest box see if there’s any
improvements we can make
rescued owls are relocated back to where
they were found
as this gives them the best possible
chance of survival
as their habitats are proven to support
our populations
but just before we were about to leave
we get an unexpected arrival
so they’ve just had a phone call in a
bar now has just been brought
into the sanctuary it was called in by a
member of the public and
it seems to be quite emaciated we don’t
know what
state it’s currently in uh so we’re
going to go and see
how it is
for this we are joined by dr matteo roos
assistant conservation
and science officer at the barnell trust
who begins
emergency checks and treatment
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it’s clear to see the difference in
condition and energy levels between this
owl that’s just been brought in
and the owl that we’re taking back to
the wild
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the team will keep the owl under close
observation as they estimate it hasn’t
eaten for 36 hours
drastically reducing its chances of
survival through the night
but thanks to the expertise of the team
we now prepare to translocate
al barnell who was in a similar
condition just five weeks ago
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as we arrive at export national park
rick goes about setting up the avery
the hour will spend the next two weeks
inside the avery
and this is what’s known as a soft
release giving the owl time to readjust
to its new location
and surroundings giving it the best
chance of survival
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so he’s had his one-hour 45-minute
journey to his new location and he’s now
in his avery and he’ll be here for the
next couple of weeks before they open
the hatch
and the team here they’re going to be
feeding him every day and checking in on
him
so we are going to come back here in two
weeks time
for when they open the lid of the avery
the amount of work that goes into
rehabilitating and releasing
just one bar now is considerable
but this process is becoming more and
more common
as the species is facing a multitude of
threats
so the main one is loss of habitat the
climate is changing also so
they’re facing increasing threat from
free weather events it’s just the
unpredictability really there’s a lot
more
severe storms and heavy rainfall
so periods of that are difficult for
barn owls because
their feathers aren’t very water
repellent so they get wet quickly
so they’re not able to feed during those
periods and it’s the same if you get
periods of extended drought
which we’ve had recently the field
vaults that they
that they largely eat their numbers go
down when you have periods of drought so
it’s difficult then also for barn owls
at a time when they’re trying to feed
their young
and then also a lot of young birds die
on
roads at this time of year a lot of
birds are dispersing throughout the
countryside
major roads take a real toll on the
population numbers
with the increasing pressures of habitat
loss and
fluctuations in our climate directly
affecting barn our populations
as well as entire ecosystems the future
for barn owls is
ever dependent on charities like the
barn owl trust
as two weeks have passed we headed back
to exmoor national park to check in on
the owl
and meet nick who has been monitoring
and feeding him prior to his release
hello you’re right how’s it been all
right good
all fun and games quite uneventful
really yeah he sleeps one on here and
then
tuck some food in and hope he’s doing
all right have you seen him at all
a couple of times yeah he keeps himself
to himself
nick then opens the aviary allowing the
bar now to leave whenever he chooses
so that’s it the avery hatch is now open
and of course this
is a wild animal so he could come out
within the next 15 minutes or
it could be sometime later on tonight
but he’s gone through the rehabilitation
process and
at some point in the next 24 hours he’ll
be back into the wild where he belongs
animal species across the uk are under
threat from a range of multifaceted and
ever-changing factors but thanks to the
expertise
hard work and dedication of groups and
individuals
there is hope for species like the barn
owl one of the uk’s most
iconic species
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you
