(JP)Missing wild owls suspected of being poached

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http://mdn.mainichi.co.jp/news/20020502p2a00m0fp014000c.html

 

Missing wild owls suspected of being poached

 

HIGASHIMATSUYAMA, Saitama -- A wild owl and its two

chicks that were found inhabiting a forest here in

mid-April have been missing since last Monday, a local

resident said Thursday.

 

Prefectural government officials in charge of

protecting wild life suspect that the owls may have

been poached, a practice prohibited by the Law

concerning Protection of Wildlife and Game.

 

" If someone took them in order to sell the chicks,

it's outrageous, " one of them, 60-year-old Shin

Suzuki, said.

 

Masaharu Tsujimoto, 79, a former elementary school

principal living in Okegawa, Saitama Prefecture, found

the chicks on a slope of the forest in

Higashimatsuyama while he was hiking on April 19. He

later found their mother near the chicks.

 

However, the three birds disappeared last Monday and

have not since been seen. Tsujimoto immediately

alerted the prefectural government.

 

Officials who inspected the area did not find any

white feathers of the chicks that should have been

scattered around their nest if they had been attacked

by a wild animal.

 

Owls are becoming increasingly popular as pets

following the release of the movie, " Harry Potter and

Sorcerer's Stone, " and their retail prices have

sharply risen, says Noboru Furukawa, 67, an education

commentator who is also familiar with the ecology of

owls.

 

" I don't think pet shops are selling wild owls. But

owls that have been tamed by people since they were

chicks are priced at some 200,000 yen each. There may

be a black market for owls, " the owner of a pet shop

in Tokyo's Nakano-ku who spoke on condition of

anonymity said.

 

According to the Saitama Prefectural Government's red

data book on endangered species, only 10 cases of owls

breeding have been confirmed in the prefecture in

recent years.

 

Those who poach wild owls could face up to one year in

prison, or a fine up to 500,000 yen under the Law

concerning Protection of Wildlife and Game. (Mainichi

Shimbun, May 2, 2002)

 

 

 

 

 

 

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