Spotted Owl Dies

A rare owl has died, despite best efforts of veterinarians.

The tiny spotted owl was discovered on the road by a work crew near Hedley two weeks ago.

It was brought to the South Okanagan Rehabilitation Centre for Owls in Oliver, where it soon gained national attention.

Spotted owls are an endangered species and only three known nesting pairs exist in Canada.

SORCO Founder, Sherri Klein, says the bird was in poor health when it arrived. She says the bird weighed a little more than 450 grams when it came into their care. Average weight for an adult spotted owl is between 600 and 800 grams.

Klein says the owl had some sort of injury to the internal part of its left eye, which means it was likely unable to hunt.

She says the bird was so weak, it had to be force-fed for a time and it never did recover the strength to stand on its own.

The spotted owl died around 5 am on Tuesday morning.