Flying machine may swoop to owls’ rescue

DON’T be surprised if you see a dead baby owl being sold on the road to Sun City.

It is probably the victim of a failed attempt to flog the “leftovers” from night-time raids on the Owl Rescue Centre near Hartbeespoort Dam in North West, where intruders are cutting open enclosures and stealing the birds, hoping they will fetch R500 to R600 as muti.

Now, the people who run the centre are trying to buy intelligent drones to nab the owl thieves.

Sadly, said rescue centre founder Brendan Murray, “intruders come onto the owl reserve, which is a 45ha area within a bigger area of 12 000ha for the entire game reserve. They trap everything from impala to zebra — and then stop by the owl enclosures to take them too.”

But, said Murray, the demand for owls as muti was not as great as the intruders might imagine, and some sit for a year before they are bought. The thieves are then left with dead chicks, which they try to sell at the roadside.

The land is also home to baboons, leopards and other animals. There is some fencing, but an electric fence is not viable as it would kill the owls.

“It is a perfect place for an owl sanctuary. We have eight of the 12 species found in the country here, and though they aren’t yet classified as endangered, they are on the decline. Some might become endangered in the next year or two,” said Murray.

Four volunteers guard the cages every night, but intruders sometimes carry firearms, and try their luck three or four times a week.

“Even the cops aren’t interested any more because it happens too often,” said Murray.

“We have prevented hundreds from being stolen, but if we can raise the extra money for the drones, we will save many more owls.”

Murray said the drone technology would allow them to pick up the signal of any “foreign” cellphone — in a 3km radius — that had not been programmed into the system.

The drone would then find the intruder, hover above them and catch them in the act.

According to Kabelo Ledwaba, speaking on behalf of the South African Civil Aviation Authority, “at present there is only one operator” in South Africa that has been issued with a permit to conduct

All applicants need to go through a rigorous process to get a permit.

Said Ledwaba: “As much as there are countless benefits to using [drones] for this type of operation, the associated risk needs to be clearly understood. Notably, [drones] use the same airspace as other types of aircraft, and as such it is of the utmost importance that aviation safety is upheld at all times.”

Murray’s team will follow the application process — and must also find an extra R31 000 in addition to the R17 000 already raised for the drones. antipoaching operations.

If we can raise money for the drones, we will save many owls