Agri Kultuur January / Januarie 2016 | Page 57

In the Spotted Eagle Owl enclosure ever we are doing our best to rise to the challenge. As an organisation, we are permitted and strictly monitored by Cape Nature. We also work closely with the SPCA, the University of Cape Town’s Percy FitzPatrick Institute, and the Boland and Cape Falconry Clubs. Due to the fact that there are so many animals in need, yet so few people / organisations available to assist them, an efficient network has developed between us and other animal organisations (such as SANCCOB, Butterfly World, Giraffe House and various home-based rehabilitators) which ensures that the correct birds / animals are placed in the capable hands of the correct people. Foster mommy owls raising fully releasable chicks Conservation: Eagle Encounters is continually involved in various conservation projects, such as manufacturing and installing owl boxes; creating Egyptian Goose nests from old tyres, so that they don’t take-over our Black Sparrowhawk nests; GPS recording of nesting sites for scientific research; blood sampling for viral and bacterial research, and assisting scientists in their various fields of research. We have also recently launched FALCON BIRD PEST CONTROL, where we utilise our hawks to naturally reduce the numbers of pest birds such as geese, pigeons and starlings on golf courses and in buildings, complexes Spotted Eagle Owl Family Inhabiting Owl Box and factories. This process eliminates the use of poisons, thereby eradicating any risk to the environment and other life forms. Educational Outreach: Experience has taught us that rehabilitation without education is fruitless. Our future generations deserve to inherit the gift of a balanced eco-system; an environment that is teeming with vital, selfsustainable life! Whilst education forms the building blocks that promote awareness and direction, interaction provides the key link between a passive understanding and an active will to conserve. At Eagle Encounters, those birds that are deemed ‘non-releasable’ are given a Hank Chalmers with Wally, the Wahlberg's Eagle