By Jacques Nel

With a small permanent team, we at The Owl Orphanage would like to share some of our    experiences on what it takes to run a sanctuary.

Dedication and passion to protect our incredible bird species comes with broken sleep, long hours and mixed emotions.

‘The Birds Come First’ is our motto.

We are deeply touched every time we lose a bird due to extensive injuries or poison.

Freedom days are happy days. On these days, we release birds after intensive rehabilitation and care.

As Dawn breaks, the different calls of the birds rushes one out of bed, as if to say ‘Where is our Breakfast!’

Due to the need and demand, we deal with birds of all kinds. Every species has a different diet, from meat, seed, insects, fish, greens to fruit.

Food preparation can take up a few hours by itself every day.

Between July and March we receive many orphaned birds of all kinds. Babies need a lot of time and care due to hand feeding and temperature control.

Between March and July we receive less orphans and more injured birds that need special medical care.

In between feeding, medicating, cleaning aviaries / medical boxes, scrubbing water bowls, we also build additional aviaries, do basic maintenance, go out on rescues, work on awareness campaigns and much more.

We are a non profit private organisation that is not funded by government, yet some people treat us as public servants.

With our passion for the  environment, we do what we can and when we can to save every life. Most days our feet do not even touch ground, because of a very busy schedule.

We are also involved in seal disentanglement, the rescue of  sea birds and other animals. These rescues are stabilised and transferred to other sanctuaries.

Nature does not sleep and we get calls to do Rescues day and night. Our hearts sink with words like; razor wire, poison, broken wing, car accident, dog attack and children throwing stones at a bird. A lot of these    rescues do not end well or it takes a long time to a full recovery.

We work with an amazing vet, Dr. Marlise at Wesland Animal Hospital in Vredenburg. Without the selfless support from her and her team, we would be lost.

Meeting a rescued bird for the first time can bring about an array of emotion from relief, anger to sadness.

At times when an injury is too severe, we have to make the difficult decision to  euthanize. This is something we will never get used to and many a tear rolled down the cheek.

Some birds recover surprisingly fast from an injury and it is truly amazing to be part of such a journey.

The most difficult rescues is when we find that someone has lied to us about the  circumstances surrounding an injury or why they did not find help sooner.

One such experience stands out above many. A beautiful Spotted Eagle Owl was picked up by someone whom we thought might have wanted to treat it them self and keep the bird on as a pet.

After seven days of absolute agony, fed the wrong food and completely  dehydrated, this bird was finally brought to us. On arrival ,we could smell through the box that this was bad. She had a badly broken wing that was never cleaned and with no veterinary assistance the wing was rotten right into the shoulder. An anger consumed me to such an extent that I could not even utter one word at first. She had to be euthanized, because help came to late.

Most people like to read  happy stories, so do we, but unfortunately there is a harsh reality when it comes to environmental issues.

Out of sight out of mind, easy, cheap, never mindedness, just this once, ignorance and just not caring, is why some people still use poison for pests. Secondary poisoning  in birds and animals are the most heart-breaking cases we have to deal with. By the time a bird shows symptoms of poisoning it is too late in most cases. The ones that we can save may take many months to completely recover.

Poisoning is painful and does a lot of  damage to these creatures. We spend many a night and day to keep such birds calm and comfortable hoping for a miracle.

The results of increasing human settlements are staggering. We live in such a sensitive environment and it is up to all of us to help save and protect our unique    fauna and flora.

We know of many cases where birds and animals are injured and even killed by   children. We urge every school and every parent to teach our children the value of our environment.

Our Happy Story starts once a bird is ready to be moved from medical to a rehabilitation enclosure,  readying it for release.

To experience the recovery of an injured bird and the growing up stage of orphans, reminds us why we do what we do.

Every bird, even from the same       species, has it’s own character and is handled accordingly. Some are feisty, some shy, some gentle, some funny some serious, some bite hard and some claw deep.

It is an absolute honour to walk this   journey of recovery with these incredible birds.

The moment these birds are released back into the wild is heart warming and sad at the same time.

It is an indescribable feeling to see these birds fly free to where they       belong .

How can you help ?

· When Driving, adhere to the road rules.

· Be aware of wildlife on the road.

· Cut through any loop of any material that might get caught around a bird or animal.

· Find natural alternatives to poison.

· Cut down on the use of plastic.

· If walking your dog where wildlife is  common, please use a leash.

· If you have cats, don’t attract wild birds by putting food out for them.

· Place water bowls out for or wildlife in summer.

· Do not feed birds bread. Bread might fill up a bird, but has no nutritional value. Bread is harmful to birds.

· In case of an injured or orphaned bird, please call the vet. Most vets work with wildlife sanctuaries and will know the best way forward.

· Do not tame wild birds, they need to be free.

It is Costly to run such an operation.

Because of the on going need and increase of injured and orphaned wildlife, sanctuaries need all the help they can get from our communities.

Covid and a bad economy affects us all.  Because of our passion and dedication to these birds, we can’t turn any away.

Doing what we do is a lifestyle and we don’t need any luxuries. Our luxury is to be fortunate enough to spend time with these incredible birds.

As long as we can cater to every need of these birds and animals, we are happy.

Apart from the day to day running cost, we are also planning to expand by building a centre where the public would be able to have close-up encounters with birds of pray for educational purposes.

We are truly grateful to every one near and far

who has supported us this far to be able to help save these birds and animals.

However, many have made empty promises, just to forget why they made an offer in the first place. We also have experiences where some people would use the        sanctuary’s name to raise funds for themselves.

Words by Adrienne;

‘ From the moment that I receive a message or a call about a bird or any other animal requiring help, my heart skips a beat , not knowing what to expect.

Some thing I find very hard to cope with is when I loose a rescue.

I question myself with tears flowing ; why, why, why ? What did I do wrong ? Did I do enough ? What could I have done differently ?

If a rescue has to be euthanized it is heart wrenching with many tears flowing.

When a rescue is ready for release my heart breaks again, knowing that they need to be free, but I am forever        wondering how they are doing.’

Words by Jesse;
The ten months that I have worked here has

invigorated my love for this land’s biodiversity and
I get sad when I drive past the rows of

identical white houses that increase every year,

paving away the veld.

We expand, assimilate and kill so much Fauna and Flora, exposing our cruel and selfish nature,

destroying our ecosystem and ourselves in the end.

By being a part of the Owl Orphanage and its

projects, I can help change perspectives

surrounding our environment as mine has changed.

Being young myself, I have a passion to share my

experience in nature with the younger generation in the hopes of teaching the value and preserving the beauty of our wilderness.

By helping us, you help these incredible creatures.

Donate through details below or contact us directly.

The Owl Orphanage

First National Bank

Cheque acc. 62786212771

Branch code. 200710

NPO nr. 236-007 NPO

Website.        www.theowlorphanage.co.za

Email.            theowlorphanage@gmail.com

Mobile.  Jacques       072 0405 465

               Jesse           082 743 1977

               Adrienne    082 923 6826