As part of an ongoing reintroduction programme, three juvenile eagle owls have been released in the Ukrainian part of the project area. Over the next three years, a total of 20 birds are planned for release, with the aim of re-establishing a viable eagle owl population and boosting complexity of trophic food chains. Supporting wildlife comeback is a core element of the restoration work carried out by Rewilding Europe and Rewilding Ukraine, who lead the ELSP-funded Danube Delta project. Eagle owls were once found right across Ukraine, but the country’s last breeding populations are now restricted to the Polyissa region in the north and Donbass region in the east. Today it is a very infrequent visitor to the Danube Delta.
Reaching a height of 75 cm and with a wingspan of up to 180 cm, the eagle owl is one of the world’s most impressive owls. Their decline is mostly attributable to a deliberate eradication campaign (which ended in 1969), disturbance of female birds at early stages of incubation, and collisions with power lines. While the eagle owl is now making a natural comeback in many parts of Europe, hunting pressure in Romania, Ukraine and Moldova where this project is based means the likelihood of an unaided recovery in the Danube Delta is uncertain. As the eagle owl is a resident and non-migratory species, the newly released birds are expected to stay within the safe confines of the Danube Delta area, where hunting is prohibited.
The newly released juvenile owls hatched in Odessa Zoo around five months ago. The owls were then transferred to a large aviary in the core zone of the Danube Biosphere Reserve, where they were housed for ten days to acclimatise to their surroundings before being released.
With a diet consisting mostly of rats and other small mammals, as well as birds, it is hoped that recovery of eagle owl populations may help rebalance the food chain.
Watch a short video celebrating the eagle owls’ release below:
To find out more about this project, please visit the Danube Delta project page.
A version of this article first appeared on Rewilding Europe’s website.
