Mountain View Wildlife Conservation Centre

2010 - News and Info

July 10th, 2010

The Visitor Centre is now open for Daily Guided Tours & Presentations-10.00am & 1.00pm.

Call to reserve seats on one of our Daily Tours, Family & Group Tours, or a Birthday party for this Summer 2010. This year, we are focusing on "Biodiversity" in BC, Canada and around the world, especially focusing on our Canadian "Red-listed" wildlife species that are facing extinction, including our BC Northern Spotted Owls, Oregon Spotted Frogs, and the Vancouver Island Marmots.

Mountain View has been successfully operating these critical breeding and recovery programs for many years, and has received Conservation awards for our Owl and Marmot programs. Our educational tours include up to date information about conservation of the environment, habitat conservation, and healthy ecosystems, here in BC and Canada.

Our Guided Tours are approximately 2-hours long, consisting of an audio/visual presentation in our Visitor Centre, followed by a visit to our 300+Acre Conservation Program areas by foot and by tram. You are welcome to bring your cameras.

We also have an interesting Wildlife Art & Gifts Shop for you to visit and purchase souvenirs for your family and friends.

Call 604-882-9313 today to reserve your guided tour today.

Sunday May 30th 2010, 12-Noon to 4.00pm
MEMBERS & FRIENDS ATTENDED OUR OPEN HOUSE AT MOUNTAIN VIEW CONSERVATION

Langley Field Naturalists presented their "Biodiversity Inventory" of the Flora and Fauna in our Crown Land area. They inventoried over 500 species of animals and plants and trees, and we are now preparing a colourful presentation display of photos and trail maps of the area.
Their "Biodiversity" guide will be available for purchase in the gift store later this summer.

November 20, 2009
Mountain View Volunteer Wins CAZA National Volunteer Award

Mountain View is thrilled that one of our volunteers, Thomas Newman, has been given a national volunteer award by CAZA, for all of the work he has undertaken on our behalf.
Click here to see what Tom has contributed.
October 2, 2008
Mountain View Conservation Society Receives Honors
At the Annual CAZA (Canadian Association of Zoos and Aquariums) in Granby Quebec on October 2, 2008, we received 2 prestigious awards.

The first was the Conservation Award which recognized our exceptional work with the Northern Spotted Owl. The second, was Caza’s Outstanding Achievement award for our on-going work with the Oregon Spotted Frog. CLICK HERE FOR the latest stories
GIFT CERTIFICATES and our GIFTSHOP
SEARCHING for a unique gift for SOMEONE special? Whatever the event, birthday or graduation, our animals are hoping you include them. We make it easy to "adopt" one of our critically endangered Canadian "Red-Listed" species recovery programs or one of our animals at Mountain View. We also have a variety of gifts and souvenirs for you to purchase in our Gift Store.

CLICK HERE to link to our adoption gift certificate page.

| Canadian Species |

Northern Spotted Owl
Strix occidentalis caurina

WILD STATUS
Critically Endangered (Red-listed in British Columbia, Canada). In 2008, fewer than 20 owls in the wild were reported in British Columbia.

DISTRIBUTION
Southwestern mainland of British Columbia to Northern California, USA

SIZE
Height: Approximately 45cm (18")
Length: Approximately 45cm (18")
Weight: 1-2 lbs (454g - 1 kilo). Males are smaller than the females.

HABITAT
Old-growth and mature forests.

REPRODUCTION
Maturity is reached at 2 years old. Pairs are monogamous. Female owls produce 2 juveniles on average every 2 years, usually in April. In British Columbia, there is a 95% mortality rate of juveniles due primarily to predation by Great Horned Owls, Barred Owls and other birds of prey.

DIET
Small rodents (such as the flying squirrel), mice, rabbits, hares, birds and insects.

INTERESTING TIDBITS

Northern Spotted Owls are silent flyers and relatively long-lived birds. They are also territorial, non-migrating, and nocturnal but they may forage opportunistically during the day.
Sub-adult owls (1-2 years old) usually join groups of non-territorial "floater" owls which look for un-inhabited areas to live in.
Their ears are off-set on their heads with one higher on one side and lower on the other to help pinpoint the location of prey at night.
Their eyes do not move but they are capable of turning their heads around more than 360 degrees and back again.
They return to the same nest every year.
Males can breed as young as 1 year of age.
Females do all of the egg incubation while males provide her food until after the chicks have hatched. The male rarely eats during incubation and he continues to bring them food until fledging occurs.
Barred owls have bred with Northern Spotted Owls in the wild and produced hybrids.
Habitat loss, forest fragmentation, and Barred Owl encroachment are the main reasons for their decline.

HABITAT RANGE

ANIMAL FACT SHEET
To download this page and also get a full page photo of the Northern Spotted Owl click here for a PDF.