PRAGUE, May 16 (Xinhua) -- Czech Zlin Zoo has become the first in the world outside of Asia to successfully breed a spotted wood owl, a rare species of so called earless or wood owls, zoo spokeswoman Romana Bujackova said on Wednesday.
The home of this medium-sized owl (strix seloputo) is the forests of Southeast Asia.
Bujackova confirmed that the newborns hatched on April 15, and they are doing well under the care of their parents.
Zoologist Vaclav Straub said that the Zlin Zoo received four owls last year in August from a partner zoopark in Indonesia.
Breeders visited the owls only while feeding, all the other time the birds were continuously under recording cameras. One female laid two eggs, one of which was fertilized.
The parent couple managed their first nesting perfectly. The owl family are all together in their breeding house and not exposed to the public so far, but the zoo visitors can always come and see the other couple of spotted wood owls.
The Zlin Zoo has been lately famous for breeding country's first Great Indian Hornbill, a quite rare species of birds for Europe. It is indeed among the world's top in breeding a number of bird species, such as vultures, storks, hornbills, and now also spotted wood owl.
