A pair of rare brown wood owls have been bred at a botanic garden in Hong Kong, with two chicks fledging last month.
Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Garden in Tai Po kept the breeding programme under wraps for weeks, allowing the chicks to grow undisturbed before announcing it.
The chicks, still downy white, were seen peering curiously from their nest among ferns in the farm’s mature forest. Their mother kept watch from a nearby tree during the day and foraged for food at night, the farm said in a social media post.
“We have been observing them for several weeks, and two healthy and lively chicks successfully fledged in May!” the post read.
According to the farm, the brown wood owl is one of the largest native owl species. The forest-dependent bird naturally dispersed into Hong Kong from southern China within the past two decades.