India’s environment minister, Jairam Ramesh, says that Harry Potter movies are influencing the urban middle class to buy owls for their children as birthday presents, leading to a major decline in wild owl numbers across India.
Many of J. K. Rowling’s characters have owls as friends in the popular books and films. However J.K. Rowling, on her website, has asked that people not keep owls locked up as pets in tiny cages in their homes.
Traffic, which monitors global trade in wildlife, has identified that owls are captured and slaughtered for owl body parts to be used in black magic ritual ceremonies. A 1972 law protects owls but according to the WWF, over half of India’s thirty owl species can be bought on the black market in India.
Owls are nocturnal and solitary by nature, feeding on small mammals, insects and birds, using their large forward-facing stereoscopic eyesight for low-light hunting.
Via UK Telegraph & Reuters
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