Two barn owls trapped in apartment beam rescued

Kochi: Two barn owls trapped in the safety netting inside the beams of a residential apartment complex in Kakkanad for several days have got a flight of freedom. They were rescued by volunteers of Daya, an animal welfare NGO based in Muvattupuzha, on Sunday.It was their loud hooting that caught the attention of the residents. "They probably tried to fly up, seeing the gap in the sky, and got stuck there," said Ambili Puraykkal, who, along with Vishnu Viswanath, responded to the call from the residents. The residents had alerted the forest department initially. When the officials came, they just advised and left, the residents said. Viswanath climbed the narrow parapet wall, which was 20ft high and just wide enough for one person, and cut through the nets. Once the way was cleared, the first owl flew away, but the second owl was attacked by a hawk mid-flight. To evade it, the owl clung to the wall of a nearby building. The Daya team then rescued it from there and released it in a forested area.