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‘Injured’ Owl Rescued From Ditch Was Just Too Fat To Fly

‘Injured’ Owl Rescued From Ditch Was Just Too Fat To Fly

Experts found the bird was 'simply extremely obese' and had 'overindulged' during January.

Stewart Perrie

Stewart Perrie

An owl has been rescued from a ditch in the UK after a passerby thought it was injured. Turns out, it was actually just a little on the heavy side.

The bird was spotted by a landowner and taken to Suffolk Owl Sanctuary, hoping the experts could nurse it back to full health.

All that was needed for the owl was a better diet and some exercise.

Staff at the sanctuary said the bird was 'simply extremely obese' and 'unable to fly effectively', and set about making it lose between 20 and 30 grams. If only our weight loss goals were that small.

Suffolk Owl Sanctuary/Facebook

According to the BBC, while 240 grams might not sound like a lot of weight, it's actually around a third heavier than what you'd normally expect for a Athene noctua.

The sanctuary wrote on Facebook: "This is extremely unusual for wild birds to get into this condition naturally, so we needed to investigate some obvious scenarios - the first being that she was possibly an escaped aviary bird. Sadly there was no indication of rings or chip identification, and asking around in the local area didn't give us any leads."

Head falconer Rufus Samkin added: "Where she was found is very productive land, and it's been a mild winter and there's a lot of food around - voles, mice. We think she's just done incredibly well for herself and overindulged.

Suffolk Owl Sanctuary/Facebook

"We may see her again - we hope not. Hopefully, she's learnt to keep her weight in trim so she can escape any predators or being picked up."

Once the weight was lost over the course of a few weeks, the little female owl was allowed to go back into the wild and flourish like it should.

We've all been there when the Christmas holidays come to a close and you realise just how much weight you chucked on. But fear not, as long as you have a healthy diet and chuck in a bit of exercise, you'll be able to lose the few extra kilos.

This bloke is living proof that with hard work and dedication, you can lose a lot of weight.

Stephen Ringo from Tennessee, USA, weighed almost 190 kilograms (412lbs) at his heaviest. At this point, his waistline had expanded to 60 inches - only seven inches less than his height.

The 38-year-old software engineer used to be a keen power-lifter in his youth, but his appetite for fast food slowly took a devastating grip of his life.

In 2016, Mr Ringo got divorced, citing his weight gain as the reason his marriage was destroyed due to the devastating effect it had on his confidence and the couple's intimacy.

But in October that year, Stephen decided it was time to finally lose the weight. Upon returning to the gym, he was initially extremely disheartened by his lack of fitness, but he continued to workout every day and practice intermittent fasting, whereby he only ate between 5pm and 9pm.

His regime has seen his waistline shrink to 32 inches, while his confidence has grown immeasurably.

Featured Image Credit: Suffolk Owl Sanctuary/Facebook

Topics: News, Animals