Police found three owls in Pangasinan

SANTA BARBARA, Pangasinan, Jan. 4 (PNA) -- The local police here rescued three owls on Friday and entrusted these to a local television station before turning these over to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).

Inspector Isaias Dominguez, the town's deputy police chief, with PO1's Jonathan Gabis and Christopher Idos, were on routine patrol in barangay Tuliao when they found the owls.

The birds were brought by them to the Police Station and later delivered to the care of ABS-CBN North Central Luzon Bureau Reporter Maria France Noguera.

After documenting the rescue, ABS-CBN turned over the three birds to representatives of the Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Office in Dagupan City that same afternoon.

Superintendent Eric Noble, chief of police of Sta. Barbara, said the three owls were named "Dominguez", "Gabis" and "Idos" after the names of the three policemen who found them.

Noble lauded the three as exemplars of the virtues of "Pulis Makakalikasan" (pro-environment).

At the same time, Noble learned that owls do not readily thrive in captivity and need open spaces to really thrive.

Endemic to the Philippines, the birds are mostly found in lowland forests in the islands of Catanduanes, Samar, Bohol, Mindanao, Luzon, Leyte and possibly Sibuyan.

Known locally as “kuwago” or “bukao”, owls usually have a total length of 40 to 50 centimeters (16-20 inches) and a wing-length of about 35 centimeters (14 inches), said Noble.