Harry Potter films blamed for abandoned owls increase

An owl sanctuary says it is still feeling the unwanted effect of the Harry Potter films， with high numbers of owls being abandoned.

It is claimed owls popularity as pets increased in the last decade with many keen to copy JK Rowlings schoolboy hero with his companion Hedwig.

Ian Toothill， of the North Wales Owl Sanctuary， says about 90% of the birds are abandoned “captive-bred” pets. He says people often do not realise owls smell and are not good pets.

Mr Toothill and his wife Pam have more than 100 birds at the Corwen sanctuary. Demand for their services increased after the release of the Harry Potter films， which featured actor Daniel Radcliffe with a pet snowy owl.

Mr Toothill said： “We have had quite a big increase in owls coming in from the pet industry over the last 10 years.

There has always been a market for pets for owls for many years， but since Harry Potter came out the increase probably doubled or tripled overnight.”

While the Potter films saw a surge in pet owls， Mr Toothill said the desire for status symbols meant the problem continued， and there were also parents who “cant say no to their children”.

He said many birds were “captive-bred” abroad for the pet industry， often taken from their parents as eggs， and would not survive in the wild.

He said they did not “make good pets at all”， have sharp talons and can “nip quite badly”.

It is known that some owls can live for 50 years.

（China Daily）

哈利·波特热潮散去大批宠物猫头鹰遭弃养

英国一家猫头鹰收容所称，“哈利波特”系列电影带来的负面影响仍在继续，大量猫头鹰遭到弃养。

在JK罗琳撰写的这部系列小说中，哈利·波特养的猫头鹰海德薇也是他的好伙伴。因此在过去十年中，英国出现了饲养宠物猫头鹰的热潮。

北威尔士猫头鹰收容所的伊恩·图特希尔说，收容所内90%的猫头鹰是遭弃养的“人工圈养”宠物。他说，人们通常没有意识到猫头鹰身上有味道，也不好养。

图特希尔和他的妻子帕姆在康威收容所里收养了100多只猫头鹰。《哈利波特》系列电影发布后，他们的业务量大增。在影片中，男星丹尼尔·雷德克里夫饰演的哈利·波特饲养了一只“雪鸮”。

图特希尔说：“在过去十年间，我们收养的宠物猫头鹰数量大增。”

“这些年，宠物猫头鹰一直很有市场，但自从哈利·波特系列作品问世后，宠物猫头鹰的数量一夜间增长了两三倍。”

哈利·波特系列作品掀起了饲养宠物猫头鹰的热潮，但图特希尔称拥有这种“身份象征”的愿望也意味着问题会继续存在，还有一些家长“无法拒绝子女的要求”。

他说很多猫头鹰都是从宠物店买回来“人工饲养”的，经常是母猫头鹰下了蛋就被拿走，这样长大的猫头鹰在野外无法存活。

他说猫头鹰“很难伺候”，爪子很锋利，而且“啄人也很疼”。

据知有些猫头鹰寿命长达50年。

（中国日报）