The Owls of Wadi Wurayah-by Sami Ullah Majeed

About the talk

Owls are enigmatic birds, mysterious, lovable, or spooky, depending on who you ask. Owls have been associated with wisdom and intelligence in some cultures, while others associated owls with harbinger of bad omens and death. Some regard them as lucky charms and others get scared at the sight of them, local folklore has many fables on them. They are super hunters who fly stealthily and hunt in the night. All owls are carnivorous birds of prey and are very adept in hunting in their respective environments. Since owls can be found in nearly all parts of the world and across a multitude of ecosystems, their hunting skills and characteristics vary slightly from species to species, though most characteristics are shared among all species. There are 9 species of Owls found in UAE out of which 3 are migrants. Wadi Wurayah National Park (WWNP) is refuge to 7 out of 9 owls species found in UAE.  Sami Ullah will let us know more about these mystical inhabitants of our national park.

About the speaker

Sami Ullah Majeed works as Park ranger at Wadi Wurayah National Park,  in Fujairah, since 2014. The 220 square kilometer reserve is home to more than 800 different species (flora and fauna) and is an international acknowledged Ramsar Wetland. Sami has been working in a variety of wildlife monitoring programs in the park. He is specialized in the SMART conservation program and wildlife camera trapping. Since many years he has studied the different owl species of the National parc and collect important information about their ecology.