BARN OWLS

GS 3: Economics – Animal-Rearing

Why in news?

Three pairs of barn owls have been taken from Kerala to Kavaratti under a rodent management programme.

Highlights:

  • Lakshadweep have ‘recruited’ three pairs of barn owls from Kerala to fight battle against the rodents.
  • For the time being, the three males and three females are getting acclimatised in specially built cages. “They will gradually be released into the coconut plantations under a closely monitored breeding and rodent management programme
  • Bar owls are selected due to the fact that the rats in the Lakshadweep Islands practically live on treetops. Coconut is an important money-spinner for the islands, but the rodents account for 30-40% of the yield loss
  • Similar attempts were reportedly made in the 1960s as well

Barn owls:

  • The barn owl is the most widely distributed species of owl and one of the most widespread of all birds.
  • The Barn Owl has excellent low-light vision, and can easily find prey at night by sight. But its ability to locate prey by sound alone is the best of any animal that has ever been tested. It can catch mice in complete darkness in the lab, or hidden by vegetation or snow out in the real world.
  • The barn owl is found almost everywhere in the world except polar and desert regions
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