The Owls Trust Abroad
We are proud to be supporting the
Chaco Owl Ex Situ Program
Wol – Chaco Owl, Strix chacoensis
WHAT IS A CHACO OWL?
The Chaco Owl (Strix chacoensis) is a small owl native to the Gran Chaco region of Paraguay, Bolivia and Argentina. Like other owls in the Strix genus, it has a compact, rounded form with no ear tufts. Its dark brown, heavily barred plumage gives it a distinctive striped appearance.
The species is named after the Gran Chaco, a biodiverse forested region that spans Paraguay, Bolivia and Argentina. The word “Chaco” is thought to derive from the Quechuan word chaqu, meaning “hunting land”.
Chaco Owls primarily feed on small mammals, particularly rodents and marsupials, as well as beetles and scorpions. Although currently classified as Near Threatened, ongoing population declines and continued habitat loss suggest that its conservation status may become more severe in the future.
THE SITUATION
The principal threat to the Chaco Owl is the large-scale conversion of natural habitat to soya production and cattle ranching. As a result, the Gran Chaco ecosystem is now considered to be under greater threat than the Atlantic Rainforest.
It is estimated that more than 50% of the Paraguayan Chaco could be lost by 2030. The Chaco Owl depends on this habitat and is unable to adapt quickly enough to the rapid pace of human-driven environmental change. Its population is believed to have declined by approximately 27% over the past 30 years.
Habitat loss is also affecting many other species found within the Chaco ecosystem, including the Chacoan peccary (Catagonus wagneri) and the giant anteater (Myrmecophaga tridactyla), both of which are represented in EAZA collections. The Chaco Owl therefore serves as an important ambassador species for educating people about ecosystem functioning, biodiversity loss and the interconnected nature of conservation challenges.
THE SOLUTION
In October 2023, the Chaco Owl EAZA Ex Situ Programme (EEP) was established to support the long-term conservation of the species through population management, education and conservation funding. Coordinated by Yorkshire Wildlife Park, the programme aims to create a sustainable insurance population while supporting vital field conservation work.
A major challenge for the programme is that relatively few Chaco Owls are currently held within EAZA collections. To address this, the EEP is working collaboratively with zoos, raptor centres and private holders across Europe to identify birds, develop partnerships and establish a population that is demographically, genetically and behaviourally viable.
Alongside the ex situ breeding programme, conservation efforts are focused on improving scientific understanding of the species in the wild. Currently, very little is known about the Chaco Owl’s reproductive biology, habitat requirements or diet, making effective conservation planning difficult.
To address these knowledge gaps, a research programme is being established in Paraguay’s Dry Chaco. Three field expeditions will take place annually to investigate seasonal variation in distribution, habitat use, diet and breeding behaviour.
Fieldwork will involve ringing and GPS-tracking individual birds to assess population size, movements and habitat requirements. Researchers will also analyse pellets and nesting sites to investigate diet, while camera traps will be used to monitor breeding and feeding behaviour. The information gathered will help inform future conservation action and support the long-term protection of the species and its habitat.
WHAT WE ARE DOING
The Owl Trust is proud to be involved in this important conservation initiative through its own Chaco Owl, Wol, who helps raise awareness of the species and the challenges it faces in the wild.
Alongside caring for Wol as part of the wider conservation breeding programme, the Trust actively supports fundraising for the Chaco Owl Ex Situ Programme, helping to cover essential operational costs and contribute towards field research in Paraguay. Funds raised support activities such as population surveys, bird ringing, GPS tracking, habitat assessments and the monitoring of breeding and feeding behaviour.
The Trust is also helping to promote collaboration between zoos, raptor centres and conservation organisations working to secure the future of the species. Through education, visitor engagement and conservation fundraising, the Owl Trust is helping connect people with the challenges facing the Chaco Owl and the wider Gran Chaco ecosystem, while supporting the research and conservation action needed to safeguard this remarkable species for future generations.
The Work We Are Doing Overseas
The Dominican Republic Owl Conservation Project
The Owls Trust Abroad is the programme through which the Trust takes its conservation objectives very seriously indeed. As a Charity and a Zoo, we feel we have a huge obligation to stop species from sliding into an unstoppable decline. You may recall a wonderful series on the BBC called “Last Chance to See” with Stephen Fry and Mark Carwardine. Mark went on to write a book about the series, the last chapter of which discusses conservation and the reasons why we often fail in our attempts to keep these animals safe.
“…another reason is the lack of what I call “predictive conservation”. We stand by and watch endangered species slide down the slippery slope towards oblivion and fail to act until their situation is so outrageously dire that they’ve almost reached the point of no return. Take the catastrophic decline of the African lion – a species most of us simply take for granted. Sixty years ago there were half a million in Africa, twenty years ago there were fewer than 200,000, and today there are barely more than 20,000 across the continent. Yet this catastrophic decline seems to be passing the world by unnoticed. I know money is tight, and there are more than enough other animals even closer to extinction, but just how rapidly – and by how much – does a population have to decline before everyone is galvanised into action?”
The Owls Trust Abroad is working in Hispaniola to conserve their endemic Owls before it is too late
Many thanks to Mark for allowing us to use this extract from his book. Copyright Mark Carwardine/Collins/Last Chance to See.
Children in the Dominican Republic meeting an owl for the first time.
Pamela Broughton with The British Ambassador for the Dominican Republic at his residence in Santo Domingo.
The Event
On the 24th of February 1999, a Memorandum of Agreement was signed by government representatives of the Dominican Republic and the Society for the Conservation and Research of Owls (S.C.R.O.) at Parque Zoologico Nacional (ZOODOM) in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.
This agreement was aimed at efforts to conserve the four Owl species endemic to the island of Hispaniola and remains the first agreement to conserve endemic Owl species supported by a government agency anywhere in the world. The four Owls are;
- The Ashy Faced Owl (Tyto glaucops)
- The Hispaniola Short Eared Owl (Asio flammeus domingensis)
- The Hispaniola Stygian Owl (Asio stygius noctipetens)
- The Hispaniola Burrowing Owl (Athene cunicularia troglodytes)
The agreement highlighted the urgent need to support these unique Owls in their efforts to adapt to a changing environment in a country in which 85% of the original habitat has been replaced by plantations, agricultural land, human settlements and tourist centres. This was part of a global undertaking by S.C.R.O. to secure and ensure the existence of Owl species that are threatened by human population growth and human activities on our planet. After a bright start, the Project over the years began to face a number of problems due in the main to staff changes and other priorities.
In 2009 a new leader, The Owls Trust (The Owls Trust Abroad), was asked to take over control of the D.R.O.C. Project and The Owls Trust Abroad was invited to the Dominican Republic by ZOODOM to research the next stages required to place this effort at the forefront of tropical Owl conservation throughout the world.
The Goal
- To enhance the population of the Owl species and subspecies
- endemic to the islands of Hispaniola and
- to save them from extinction.
Because there is no person, organization or government able to stop the transformation of wilderness into cultivated land and tree plantations the extinction of numerous plant and animal species is foreseeable. The survival of many species now depends on the creation of nature reserves and zoos which, like islands in an ocean of humans, are also burdened with serious problems.
The D.R.O.C.P. partners see the future survival of most Owl species as not dependent upon the creation of nature reserves and zoos but, because of the Owl’s adaptability and harmlessness, as dependent on these birds living among people in a transformed environment of the future.
The goal is to solve the inability of the Owls to adapt to the speed at which we are destroying the wilderness with the resulting catastrophic consequences.
Children in the Dominican Republic meeting an owl for the first time.
Education
It is much more desirable to make it possible for an Owl species to live in an environment altered by man than have it on a small reservation of protected land.
Here, education, especially in schools for children who are the adults of tomorrow, has to come into play. Besides keeping and breeding these Owls, Zoodom has a tremendous opportunity to play a leading role in educating the people of the Dominican Republic. Displaying some Owls to the public so that people can see them at close range, and perhaps even touch them, would have long-lasting effects. This educational programme has to be done and is equal in importance to all the breeding programmes and fieldwork.
Without the ability of the common man to share our ever-increasingly crowded world with other living