Baby owl rescued from wildfires in forests in northern Thailand

Baby owl rescued from wildfires in forests in northern Thailand

This is the moment a baby owl stranded in wildfires in northern Thailand was rescued by park rangers.

Footage shows the confused baby bird separated from its mother while a wildlife worker attempted to catch it in Sri Lanna National Park in Chiang Mai province on March 19.

The rescuer had to chase the bird away from the fire to prevent it from accidentally getting burned while trying to escape.

The bird kept chirping for its mother, but there was no sign of other birds in the area.

It is believed to have been left while the other animals fled.

The team even searched for the baby owl’s nest but it could not be found so they took the owl with them to an animal shelter for rehabilitation.

One of the park officials, Namfon Chomsuay, said they are now planning to increase the frequency of forest patrols to prevent man-made wildfires and other activities that could harm the animals in protected zones.

She said: ‘Nearly 16 acres of the forest was burnt down.

We suspect it was caused by people who hunted for wild animals, meat and rare forest plants.’ Park rangers travelled to the burning forest to help rescue the animals that survived during the firefighting operation near Mae Ngad dam.

The team had to trek the area as it was unreachable by vehicle and a helicopter from the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment helped supply the water to them to put out the blaze in certain spots.

The recent wildfires have destroyed woodland in Chiang Mai province and neighbouring regions.

More than 400 ‘hotspots’ have been identified and the haze from the smoke has caused soaring levels of air pollution.

The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment deployed helicopters carrying water to extinguish the flames while firefighters have battle the flames on the ground.

However, the critical situation has not improved and officials are now hoping that summer storms arriving from China could douse the wildfires.

The Thai Meteorological Department said that isolated thunderstorms were likely to occur across the north along with higher levels of humidity between March 25 and 28.