“Biologists believe that if we increase the yearly number of burrowing owls raised-and-released to 100, the chance of a successful self-sustaining population will also increase,” Rob Purdy, General Manager, BC Wildlife Park. “This year is the first year we have reached that goal.”

Burrowing owls are an endangered species and protected under the federal Species at Risk Act (SARA). The park began breeding burrowing owls in 1991; since then, 444 owls have successfully been released.

To help recreate a self-sustaining population, a new Burrowing Owl Recovery Centre, designed by the British Columbia Wildlife Park, was completed in 2002. Today, according to the National Burrowing Owl Team, the British Columbia Wildlife Park is a leader in captive breeding of burrowing owls for release to the wild and is the most successful breeder of burrowing owls in North America.

“We’ve partnered with some of the landowners in the Kamloops region and created a safe environment to integrate the owls,” adds Purdy. “The support of the community and its volunteers has played a big part in the recovery centre’s success.”

The juvenile Burrowing Owls will be prepared for release on Friday April 21 and their actual release to the wild will be Saturday, April 22. Media are welcome to come to the British Columbia Wildlife Park on Friday from 11 a.m. - 2 p.m. to watch the weighing, banding and radio collaring activities that the juvenile owls undergo in preparation for their release. The next day, media can join the release team at the Quilchena Hotel near Merritt on highway 5A by 9 a.m.

For more information, please contact Rob Purdy, General Manager of the BC Wildlife Park at (250) 573-3242 or rpurdy@bczoo.org, or Ms. Lee Morris, CEO, Tourism Kamloops at (250) 372-800 or lee@tourismkamloops.com.