Moose Jaw's Burrowing Owl Interpretive Centre has a couple of new residents with the transfer of two young male owls from the Manitoba Burrowing Owl Recovery Program.
As part of the exchange program — to prevent in-breeding and diversify the breeding stock — Moose Jaw’s centre and Manitoba’s centre exchange owls to build up their breeding programs.
With the addition of the two new owls — Cache and Marshall — the number of burrowing owls in Moose Jaw’s program is now a dozen.
Being born in June 2021, the pair are too young to move into the breeding program next year but will be old enough for 2023.
“Because it is such a small flock it is important to get in new blood lines now and again,” Lorrie Johnson, coordinator of the Interpretive Centre said. “It helps keep the genetics healthy.”
The trading program led to the Manitoba Centre getting two young female owls a few years ago and this year Moose Jaw’s captive breeding program received the two males in return.
“Every few years we try to trade back and forth,” Johnson said.
The pair of owls were in the process of coming to Saskatchewan when the Centre announced sadly this year none of the none eggs hatched.
Asked if it was important to get either males or females, she said given the size of the captive flocks either males or females were desirable, but the Manitoba pair of bachelors work out well given the Interpretive Centre’s demographics.
“Both (males and females) are important and because we have two young females right now we decided it was best to bring in some young males,” she said.
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