El Caribe reports on the recent births of a second generation of the Ashy-faced Barn Owl species at the Santo Domingo Zoo. The Ashy-faced Barn Owl is in danger of extinction on the island of Hispaniola, due to the encroachment of human populations on its habitats and the menace of the bigger and stronger North American Barn Owl — a more aggressive species of bird with which it has to compete for nest sites and space in a steadily shrinking habitat.
According to Alfonso Ferreiras, the director of the park, the zoo has bred nine baby owls between 2001 and 2002, marking a first for any Western Hemisphere zoo. Only a German zoo has been able to breed the owls.
The successful births of the three second-generation baby owls born between 30 December and 9 January, can be chalked up to the creation of the perfect conditions for their breeding within the zoo.
The reproduction of owls is provided for in an agreement signed in 1999 with the Society for the Conservation and Research of Owls (SCRO), an organization based in British Columbia, Canada. Working together, the SCRO aims to conserve the tropical owl species that makes up the largest group of endangered owls.
