They arrived to breed
The two young males  arrived to Austrian Richard Faust Centre in Haringsee last week. Immediately after arrival they inhabited a large aviary in the rescue centre. “As they have an extraordinary favourable origin, they will live there in the breeding aviary and their chicks will be released to the wild,” explained Antonín Vaidl, the curator of birds.  

International Owl Community
The parents of the young owls came  from Slovakia as  injured birds which found a refuge in Prague Zoo. One of the young males will live with  a female owl from Slovenia, whereas the other one will create a couple with a female coming  from Austrian wilderness.

Šumava population is doing well
Descendants of the Ural Owls from Prague should help to connect the European population of this Carpathian subspecies, which is  fairly fragmented, especially in Austria. Prague Zoo offered the two males to Austria after successful reintroduction of the species in Šumava. Currently, there are almost twenty couples of them and they are successfully  reproducing.

Breeding couple in Prague nesting again
The breeding couple of Ural Owls  in Prague Zoo  began nesting again shortly after the departure  of their young to Austria. Within the breeding programme the Zoo will continue to support Ural Owls,   and it also intends to reintroduce other species of owls to the wild, such as  Little Owl or Barn Owl.