An endangered species in the South Okanagan will be getting a helping hand from two conservation societies this week.
In Osoyoos on Friday, the World Wildlife Fund of Canada and the Burrowing Owl Conservation Society of B.C. will be teaming up to install artificial burrows for Burrowing Owls. The species is considered at-risk, with the WWF stating populations for this grassland bird has dropped by 90 per cent since the 1990s due to habitat conversion.
“Habitat loss, namely a lack of suitable burrows, is one of the biggest threats to burrowing owls today,” the WWF said in a press release. “Once installed, the newly constructed burrows will provide much needed nesting habitat and help support the survival of burrowing owls in the wild.”
Friday’s gathering is one of three events organized by WWF and the Burrowing Owl Conservation Society of B.C. this fall in an effort to make people a bigger part the solution to wildlife loss in Canada. The next event will take place in Merritt on Oct. 13th.
The Burrowing Owl Conservation Society of B.C. says “our project is largely volunteer driven, designed to restore self-sustaining populations of these birds to the B.C. southern interior grasslands, where they were historically found.”
A reintroduction program began with breeding and release in 1992, and became a full-fledged society in 2000. For more information visit burrowingowlbc.org
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