The sanctuary has been open for 12 years, at the festival park site, which originally hosted the last British Garden Festival in 1992. The sanctuary is home to almost 60 different birds of prey from all over the world, including Falcons, and hawks as well as owls. The number of birds fluctuates as new birds arrive and wild birds which have recovered from their injuries are released. A majority of birds cannot be released into the wild as they are either captive bred or non-native species. Again a majority of birds have been bought as pets, or presents and have not been wanted, or looked-after properly.

The sanctuary is owned by Malcolm Jones, a retired steel worker, who has dedicated his life to caring and Rehabilitating birds of prey.

We are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to rescue injured birds of any type. All our injured or wild birds are checked by a specialist bird vet known as Mark Evans in Cardiff.

The Sanctuary is mainly self funded by going out to schools, or fetes as well as public donations. We do school educational visits, where we spend the entire day and give children the opportunity to learn about these magnificent birds, and children will even get the chance to hold an owl. We also attend shows and fetes where we will display a wide variety of owls, hawks and falcons from around the world. The display will be manned by trained volunteers who are willing to explain about the owls and give you the opportunity to hold them as well.

All birds are cared for by the volunteers of the Festival Park Owl Sanctuary including the owner, Malcolm Jones who has over 30 years of experience.

The Festival Park Owl Sanctuary receives on a regular basis a wide range of injured, orphaned and unwanted birds of a variety of species. We receive these from local vets, police and the general public. The general public plays an important part when it comes to the rescue and rehabilitation of our local wildlife by reporting them to us and bringing them in to us.

If need be the injured bird will be checked by Mark Evans who is an avian vet, based in Cardiff, to see if any special care is needed. The birds we receive will be kept if necessary until they are fit for release back into the wild. On the other hand, we cannot release all received birds as their injuries may be too severer which may lead to being kept in captivity, or if the bird is suffering will then have to be put down by a vet.

What to do if you find an injured Birds Of Prey

What to do if you find an injured Owl or other Bird of Prey
Remember The Following:
Minimising stress is the prerequisite of effective first aid - more birds are killed by shock than their injuries! So, Whatever you do, swift action is a prime necessity as any delay increases stress.

If you are actually able to approach and pick up an injured wild Owl or Bird of Prey, it is likely that it is in a very poor state indeed, and will further be traumatised by being handled!

Never attempt to examine any injured bird yourself as this is also very stressful and requires a trained rehabilitator or vet to do correctly!

Recognised practice for dealing with an injured bird is that you:

1. Gently throw a jumper or blanket over the injured bird to keep it warm.

2. Put the bird into a well ventilated, darkened cardboard box - not so small that the bird will sustain further damage, but not so large that it can jump around inside. Avoid handling the bird with bare hands as it may cause injury, always wear gloves where possible. The box should preferably be lined on the bottom with another tower or, if not available, newspaper. Never use straw or sawdust and do not place water in the box.

3. Do not try to feed the bird. Get the bird to us or your nearest bird of prey centre.

4. Remember that bird of prey centre (including us) are there to deal with birds of prey. Its always best for an organisation to rehabilitate raptors, not yourself.

5. Always wash your hands if you have touched the bird.

For the purposes of copyright and general information of this web site, this page will describe who is responsible for what aspect of this site.

This web site, its content and images are copyrighted to Malcolm Jones of Ebbw Vale, UK (2009). These images may not be used without written consent. All images held in the gallery are copyrighted to their rightful owners and may not be used without permission from them.

It is a legal right to grant or refuse use of copyrighted work for what ever reason. The rightful owner should always be consulted before use unless clearly stated that this is not required. In this case, the owner of the content on this site (whether it be the text or images) is Malcolm Jones. It is highly appreciated if the copyright owner is credited where the content is used. Any images in the gallery are copyrighted to the stated person. If you wish to contact these, please email a web master of this web site, who will pass your details onto the relevant person if possible.

Festival Park Owl Sanctuary
Management Details
The Festival Park Owl Sanctuary is owned, managed and run by Malcolm Jones of Ebbw Vale, UK
Address
Owl Sanctuary
Festival Park
Ebbw Vale
Blaenau Gwent
NP23 8FP

Telephone Number
07805 677 473

Domain Name & Hosting
The domain name theowlsanctuary.co.uk is property of Mathew Parker, Ebbw Vale, UK.
It was registered by GX Networks Ltd trading as 123-reg.co.uk

Hosting
The web hosting is owned and managed by Open Source Hosting Solutions, but is sub-managed by Mathew Parker, owner of the reseller Neopian.

The Web Site
All content was originally added by Mathew Parker, but can be edited by a member of staff. In particular, Patricia Webb or Malcolm Jones.
News articles can be added by a member of staff.
Guest book entries are entered by members of the public and are monitored by members of staff. Anything inappropriate is removed as soon as possible, and possibly taken further if found they are breaking British or European laws.*

*Under policies set by networks throughout the UK, details of particular guest book comments may be traced or passed onto relevant network managers. In particular, we work with Government bodies and Government establishments such as schools and council offices.