Mid West city celebrating “owl friendly” status with free documentary screening

A local conservator has led the movement for Geraldton to become an “owl friendly” city.

Founder of Just Raptors Janelle Ende was the driving force behind Geraldton becoming an owl friendly city, which will be launched on October 26.

And to celebrate the new policy, the city will host a free screening of the documentary Night Calling at the Geraldton Multipurpose Centre from 6pm to 8pm.

The documentary by conservationist Dr Boyd Wykes explores how the owl friendly movement started in Margaret River and explores the impact some rat poisons have on native animals.

The film highlights Second Generation Anticoagulant Rodenticides (SGARs), persistent poisons which do not break down in an animal’s system.

When an rat or mouse eats this poison, it can take up to a week for the animal to die. If it is preyed upon by a raptor during this time, the deadly dose is delivered to the raptor instead.

These poisons are banned in parts of the US and UK and is currently under review by the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority.

Speaking to the Guardian in the past, Dr Wykes said a study of deceased boobook owls in the South West revealed 92 per cent of them had traces of SGARs in their system and was the leading cause in the species’ decline in the region.

Mrs Ende said she first became aware of the threat SGARs posed when owls brought to her were “stone cold dead” within moments.

“They were coming in with broken wings, broken legs and starving, so I thought ‘what is going on here?’,” she said.

It was only when an elusive masked owl, usually endemic to the South West, came into her care that Ms Ende made contact with Dr Wykes and became fully aware of the impact SGARs were having.

Mrs Ende said Dr Wykes told her about his own journey making Margaret River owl friendly, which she then took to the council to push for Geraldton to become the first city north of Perth to be recognised as owl friendly.

The City of Greater Geraldton council voted in July in favour of officially adopting the title.

Since then Mrs Ende has been pushing for local businesses to push back against the sale of SGARs. The council and several business have committed to using only the safer first generation poisons throughout the region.

Though the push has had significant success, Mrs Ende cannot hide her disappointment that these poisons are still available so easily at many major retailers across the country.

“It’s really frustrating; you just want to get a hold of these CEOs and say look at what you are doing to our wildlife,” she said.

“I’m not a scientist or a researcher, I can’t answer any of the complicated questions, but I can say what I am looking at and to date I have had eight barn owls, a masked owl, a kestrel and a tawny frogmouth all coming in with SGARs poisoning this year alone.”

Ms Ende said the last owl she had come in to her rescue dead from poison was particularly upsetting as she knew it personally.

“Most of our barn owls have white faces, but this particular pair had a dark face,” she said.

“This pair would roost at the Geraldton Primary School and you could go out there and see them.

“It was great for the kids to be able to enjoy this beautiful part of nature.”

She said she was told by a friend they had found a dead owl in their front garden.

When she took the emaciated owl home, she sat with it and cried.

But the progress Mrs Ende has been making in ridding the Mid West of these pervasive poisons has not gone unnoticed.

Dr Wykes said when he first pushed for the ban of SGARs, he was told he needed a plan for the Mid West regions, as rats and mice were much more than a simple nuisance as they are in the South West.

“Now I have an answer ready for them,” he said.

Go and have a look at what’s happening in Geraldton.

City of Greater Geraldton mayor Jerry Clune said the decision to become owl friendly had been well received.

“We’ve received a lot of positive feedback from the community since council made the decision back in July to become an owl friendly city,” he said.

“That’s why we’ve joined forces with Just Raptors and Owl Friendly Margaret River to celebrate our new status by presenting a free screening of the documentary on how the owl friendly movement came about and what we can all do to better protect our birds of prey.”

Tickets for the event are limited and can be booked at the Civic Centre or online at events.humanitix.com/city-of-greater-geraldton-owl-friendly-launch