Snowy owl chick is being hand-reared

KEEPERS at Beale Wildlife Park were faced with a dilemma when the resident snowy owls hatched out two chicks.

Owl chicks have big appetites and can be quite demanding babies, so staff decided to give mum and dad a break by removing one chick for hand-rearing.

Curator Andy Nicholls said: “We don’t know whether it’s a boy or a girl yet, as it’s only five weeks old, but we’ve called it Dusty. It’s struggling a bit in the heat so we keep it as cool as possible by sitting it in front of a fan, which it seems to enjoy.

“Snowy owls live in the Arctic tundra where they feed mainly on lemmings. One owl can eat over 1,500 lemmings in a year! Dusty’s brother or sister is doing well with its parents and can be seen, with a little patience, in the snowy owl enclosure.”

For more information, visit www.bealeparke.org.uk