Orphaned owls find new cuddly-toy mum

A group of orphaned baby owls snuggle up to a cuddly toy which has become their surrogate mum after they were found on the brink of death in the wild.

The tiny tawny owl chicks burrow in under the fluffy toy's wings to keep warm after they were separated from their own mothers.

The chicks, all aged between just four and eight weeks, faced certain death as they fended for themselves alone in the wild but are now recovering in an animal hospital.

A group of orphaned baby owls snuggle up to a cuddly toy which has become their surrogate mum after they were found on the brink of death in the wild

Two of them, brother and sister Oscar and Olivia, aged four weeks were brought in by a concerned dog walker who found them being clawed to death by a pair of cats.

A fluffy baby aged around six weeks called Thomas was taken to the animal centre by a member of the public who spotted him lying on the edge of a busy road.

And tiny eight-week-old Tamsin narrowly escaped a nasty end when she was discovered by a cyclist tottering along a popular bike path through a forest.

All four of the nocturnal creatures are now being cared for by experts at the New Forest Otter, Owl & Wildlife Park at Longdown in the New Forest, Hants.

Friday, November 2, 2007