There’s a hootenanny at a Miners Rest conservation centre with the hatching of two baby masked owls.
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Born at Full Flight Birds of Prey Conservation Centre, brother and sister Charlie and Lola hatched about a week apart.
They are now just over a month old.
The Miners Rest centre breeds birds of prey as well as rehabilitating wild raptors.
The centre also undertakes research in conjunction with Federation University and the state government into the use of trained raptors for pest bird control.
Lola, the first hatched, will likely be part of that research.
Her little brother Charlie will feature in education shows for schools.
“I think using birds for education changes people’s perceptions about the environment. Using animals for education purposes gets people on board with things that will benefit the environment and in turn, Australia’s wildlife,” keeper Chloe Robb said.
Habitat loss has been the main driver behind the masked owl’s endangered status.
“Unfortunately a lot of those tree hollows are being removed through deforestation. It can take over 100 years for the hollows to form so unfortunately they’re fast running out of habitat,” keeper Jade Dickenson said.