Do not disturb!

Verreauxs' Eagle Owl (English)
Reuse Ooruil (Afrikaans)
iFebesi (Zulu)

The largest sub-Saharan eagle-owls, identified by their distinctive sleepy pink eyelids. They live in the savannah regions, nesting in trees in the stick nests of other birds. They lay two eggs but, like the big eagles, only raise one chick. Their diet consists of small mammals (including hedgehogs!), birds and even other owls.

All the birds in the African Bird of Prey Sanctuary, close to Pietermaritzburg, are either captive-bred, or 'unreleaseable rehabilitation birds' - in other words, raptors which have come into a rehabilitation centre sick or injured and cannot be successfully healed and release back into the wild.

The sanctuary have a daily show where one can see these predators in an interactive flying display, and learn more about these beautiful creatures.