Fears are growing for Great Grey owl Kevin after he was stolen from his aviary last week.
The eight-year-old bird is the pride and joy of Baytree Owl Centre in Weston and staff were left devastated when they discovered the padlock had been smashed off his cage when they arrived at work last Tuesday and Kevin had gone.
Police are now investigating the theft.
Mark Birdsall, manager of the owl centre, called it a “sad day” and said there had been no “good news” of where Kevin may be a week after the break-in.
He said: “Personally I had put a massive amount of time into training him and was planning on him being my public display for this season.
“Needless to say we are all gutted and shocked that this has happened.
“The police have been informed and we keep our fingers crossed that he is found safe and well.”
Mark says it appears someone climbed over a fence before breaking into the owl centre and then into Kevin’s aviary.
He said the owl wasn’t tethered and would have “made all sorts of noise and gone flying all over the place” when snatched.
Mark went on to thank everyone who has helped spread the word about Kevin’s theft.
Police have asked for any one with any information about the incident to get in touch.
A spokesman said: “Enquiries are underway and we would like to hear from anyone who may have any information that could assist the investigation.
“Please contact us on 101 quoting incident 108 of February 16.”
