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Owl’s well that ends well: A conservation tale at the UFS

04 July 2025 | Story Martinette Brits | Photo Ruan Higgs, Van Tonder Photography, and Tanya Scherman

Barn Owl — A quiet presence with a powerful impact – the barn owls nesting in the UFS Sasol Library have become unexpected ambassadors for conservation, inspiring hands-on research, community care, and a deeper connection between people and nature.

High above the shelves and silent study spaces of the Sasol Library at the University of the Free State (UFS), a quiet conservation success story is unfolding. A pair of barn owls have been nesting in the library’s roof space – raising chicks, hunting on campus grounds, and becoming an unexpected symbol of ecological balance and cross-departmental collaboration.

More than just a charming tale of urban wildlife, their presence is also prompting reflection on the evolving purpose of academic spaces.

Prof Vasu Reddy, Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Research and Internationalisation, whose portfolio includes libraries, sees the owls as part of something much deeper. “If we consider Shakespeare’s play, All’s Well That Ends Well, then the presence of the owls in the Sasol Library confirms another meaning of that play.”

“Love,” Prof Reddy says, “is not always considered noble, but is something persistent, and our library is not just a building, but a living ecosystem where precious documents, people, and even animals can interact, shape, and nurture our lives.”

The owls had been observed roosting at the library since 2016, but their fate took a turn in 2023 when a distressed owl was spotted outside the building. Tanya Scherman from the Centre for Teaching and Learning was the first to respond. “It appeared that the owl had been poisoned, most likely secondary poisoning from a contaminated rodent,” she explains. That moment became the catalyst for a grassroots conservation initiative – one that brought together concerned staff, students, and wildlife researchers.

“I phoned around trying to find more knowledgeable people who could help,” says Scherman. “I consulted with a local vet, the Owl Rescue Centre in Pretoria, and Prof Francois Deacon from our Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences. I wanted to know how we could keep the owls safe on campus.”

Prof Deacon, who lectures in the Department of Animal Sciences, immediately saw the potential. “As someone passionate about urban wildlife conservation, I saw a great opportunity – not just to support the owls, but to involve students in hands-on learning,” he says. “These projects offer rare chances to study natural animal behaviour in real time, outside the confines of a lab.”

Together with his postgraduate students, Ruan Higgs and Kaitlyn Taylor, the team assessed the owls’ behaviour and advised on the design of a suitable nesting structure. They also installed a motion-triggered, infrared field camera to monitor the owls’ activity safely and without disruption.

But first, the nesting box had to be built. That part of the project became unexpectedly personal. “I worked with my dad to build it,” says Scherman. “He’s an avid animal lover too, and we spent a weekend sawing, sanding, and assembling the box using a blueprint we found online.” With the help of Prof Deacon’s team, the completed structure was carried up into the roof space and secured on a ledge that the owls already favoured. “It was such a special moment to share with my family,” she adds.

A window into wildlife on campus

Scherman and Prof Deacon’s efforts have already yielded encouraging results. In 2023, a breeding pair successfully raised two owlets. “This year we found six eggs,” Scherman shares. “Of those, we are currently able to see three owlets.”

For Prof Deacon and his students, the camera has opened a window into the birds’ world. “It captures feeding events, chick development, and parental behaviour,” he explains. “This kind of passive monitoring is invaluable – it provides long-term data without human interference.” The footage has already formed the basis of student research into owl diet, chick growth, and even nesting material preferences – insights that could guide future conservation projects both at the UFS and beyond.

“These owls are teaching tools,” he says. “They bring textbooks to life for students studying ecology, animal behaviour, and sustainable land use.” He adds that the project also demonstrates how scientific knowledge can directly benefit local ecosystems. “It shows that biodiversity and human development can coexist with the right approach. Even a university library can become a habitat.”

Barn owls also play a practical ecological role on campus. “A single owl pair can eat hundreds of rodents in a breeding season, reducing the need for poisons and pesticides,” says Prof Deacon. And it’s not just rodents. “We found remains of small birds and insects in their regurgitated pellets,” Scherman notes, “which shows just how active and adaptive they are in an urban environment.”

Still, their survival is not guaranteed. Urban owls face risks ranging from road traffic to poisoning. “If you ever find an injured owl or have concerns, don’t try to help it yourself,” Scherman advises. “Rather contact Prof Deacon or me. We’re here to assist.”

“Awareness builds respect,” Prof Deacon adds. “When people know that these owls are quietly raising a family above their heads, it shifts how they interact with the space. We ask people to avoid making loud noises or using flash photography near the nesting site. Simple behaviours, such as keeping windows closed at night near the roost, go a long way towards protecting them.”

A library as a living ecosystem

As the project gained momentum, so did its symbolic weight across campus. Prof Reddy reflects on how a seemingly disruptive moment became something much more valuable:

“It is clear that what may be seen as a disruptive incident with an owl swooping into our library space is also a pedagogical and deeply conservation touchdown.”

For Prof Reddy “it inspires us to bring science and the love of books to become a teachable opportunity. If libraries are stereotypically perceived to be the quiet corner of academia, then our barn owl event tells us that our library is also a space where silence meets storytelling. The barn owls sparked a conversation about nature, knowledge, and care. It tells us that our library has become an ecosystem of compassion, where not simply books and knowledge matter, but where every creature’s story has a rightful place. This event has mobilised so many different parts of both the university and external communities. We are greatly inspired”.

Changing perceptions, protecting heritage

The project also touched on a deeper cultural significance. Owls are often misunderstood, linked to myths or fear in some communities. “It’s understandable,” Scherman says, “with their eerie calls, white faces, and ghost-like flight. But they are also messengers, protectors, and symbols of wisdom in many traditions.”

She believes education is key to changing these perceptions: “Let us embrace the opportunity to coexist respectfully with nature and wildlife. The presence of owls among us is a living testament to the rich biodiversity that thrives even in urban spaces.”

For Scherman, the project was far more than a conservation effort. It was a passion project rooted in her own family history. “My grandparents also had a special connection to owls, so this felt very close to home,” she says. “Observing their habits and individuality made me feel like their caretaker. When we saw the baby owlets, I naturally felt like I was being promoted to an owl-granny!”

Prof Deacon reflects on how the project has enriched campus relationships. “What’s been most rewarding was how many people came together around this – from librarians to students to scientists. We built friendships, not just a nest box.” He adds that librarian Hesma van Tonder even joined one of their giraffe capture excursions. “That kind of connection – between research and real-life adventure – is what makes conservation come alive.”

Looking ahead, he hopes that this project will inspire more cross-campus initiatives. “We’re exploring green corridors, rooftop biodiversity zones, and opportunities to conserve other species such as bats and pollinators,” he says. “It’s only the beginning. Hopefully, other departments such as Zoology and Botany can also come on board in the future.”

A space for stories – and for nature

As the owls continue to thrive above the Sasol Library’s quiet corners, their presence invites the university to see its own spaces differently – as places where knowledge, nature, and compassion can coexist.

Prof Reddy reflects on this shared journey:

“The owls invited themselves because they were disoriented and distressed. As a caring university, we demonstrate through our tangible actions that their arrival further ignites our curiosity as a university with a heart. In this way, our library shows how we connect to the world by sheltering not just precious books and knowledge, but that we are an important ecosystem of empathy. Our aspirations for research excellence and impact gains new ground as a vehicle for innovation, equity, and community. My heartfelt appreciation goes out to all our colleagues who are working tirelessly on their thoughtful and dedicated interventions.”

And in closing, he offers a final reflection on what this small but meaningful story reveals about the university’s future:

“If our university matters and is to remain meaningful, our accidental visitors have given new impetus to the fact that our library space holds our stories, and they are making places for new ones as part of our responsible societal futures.”

News Archive

During 2011: Appointments

2011-12-01

Dr Lis Lange: Senior Director: DIRAP

Dr Lis Lange, an Argentinean by birth, immigrated to South Africa twenty years ago – a few weeks after Nelson Mandela had walked through the gates of Victor Verster. For the past ten years, she has been involved in quality assurance for higher education institutions at the Council on Higher Education at national level.

She is assisting our university in the areas of quality assurance and academic planning, contributing to the development of deep intellectual debate and multi-disciplinary research.

Prof. Charles Dumas, Department of Drama and Theatre Arts

Prof. Charles Dumas, Extraordinary Professor in our Department of Drama and Theatre Arts, will be spending three months per year for the next three years at our university to help develop filmmaking, specifically focusing on the development of the Video Unit Planned for the Department.

Prof. Dumas started the year off with the production, Our Father’s Daughters, which was produced during the Mini-festival as well as at the Reitz Four reconciliation meeting. The production was also turned into a short film. Prof. Dumas gave film-acting classes to the third-year drama students. He directed multiple productions, such as the third-year module production Ipi Zombi, the Grahamstown Festival production, Seven Guitars and the Dance/drama production, Race, Reconciliation and the Reitz Four.

Prof. Daniel Plaatjies, UFS Business School

Prof. Daniel Plaatjies is the former Director and Head of the Graduate School of Public and Development Management at the University of the Witwatersrand. He was mainly responsible for the leading, directing and managing of strategic academic programmes, teaching, research, governance, service management and monitoring. Prof. Plaatjies, who was appointed as Visiting Professor at our Business School this year, will as part of his new duties at our Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences, be lecturing part-time and supervise our PhD students.

Prof. Johann Neethling, Department of Private Law

Prof. Johann Neethling’s career is now completing its full circle with his appointment as Senior Professor in our Department of Private Law. In 1965 he was a first-year at this university. With his nine law text books and nearly 200 articles, together with 40 years’ experience in academic training he is of inestimable value to this Department. His publications contribute to the establishment of our university as a research institute.

Prof. Hussein Solomon, Department of Political Science

Description: 2011 Appointments_Hussein Solomon Tags: 2011 Appointments_Hussein Solomon

Prof. Hussein Solomon joined our university this year as Senior Professor in the Department of Political Science. Formerly he worked in peace NGOs, advised diplomats and acts as a serving officer in the South African Air Force.

His area of research expertise includes conflict and conflict resolution in Africa; South African Foreign Policy; international relations theory; religious fundamentalism and population movements within the developing world. He is also the author of a number of books, including one on global jihad and one on India's secret relationship with apartheid South Africa.

He is also member of the internationally renowned Our Humanity in the Balance (OHIB) organisation, where his role is to bring these disparate communities together and to focus energies on a common project.

Prof. André Keet, International Institute for Studies in Race, Reconciliation and Social Justice

Prof. André Keet, our Director of the International Institute for Studies in Race, Reconciliation and Social Justice, joined the University of Pretoria on a part-time basis in 2008, whilst being a Commissioner on the Commission for Gender Equality. Later he left the Commission and joined the University of Fort Hare. “I was happy to join academia and now also serve on the Stellenbosch University Council; therefore I am very aware of the challenges facing higher education,” he said.

His vision for the Institute is to support higher-education transformation, promote non-discrimination, reconciliation and human rights, build national, regional and international networks, and developing ‘new’ languages, knowledge and discourses for reconciliation and social justice, all to the benefit of our university and South Africa.”

Prof. Helene Strauss, Department of English

Prof. Helene Strauss completed her PhD at the University of Western Ontario, London, Canada, where she taught courses on Film Studies, Children’s Literature and South African Literature and Culture. “I was subsequently appointed as an Assistant Professor in the Department of English and Cultural Studies at McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada.” She joined our Department of English this year.

Prof. Strauss has an on-going preoccupation with questions concerning social justice, race, gender and ethical interpersonal interaction in South Africa and beyond.

Prof. EC Ejiogu, Centre for Africa Studies

After 22 years in the United States of America, Prof. EC Ejiogu decided to return to Africa – to his roots – to join our university’s Centre for Africa Studies at the beginning of 2011.

Before joining the Centre, he was Assistant Research Professor in the Centre for Innovation at the University of Maryland, College Park. As Senior Researcher at the Centre, he has already helped with the streamlining of the academic programme, restructuring it to enable students to gain skills necessary to deliver a research proposal towards a dissertation after their three years of study. He has also taken up PhD and Master’s supervision.

His latest publications include a book published in March 2011 with the title, Roots of Political Instability in Nigeria, and a book co-edited with Prof. Kwandiwe Kondlo, Director of the Centre for Africa Studies, Africa in focus: Governance in the 21st century, published in April 2011.

Pura Mgolombane, Vice-Dean: Student Affairs

Bringing with him a decade of experience in Student Affairs our new Assistant-Dean for Student Life and Leadership, Pura Mgolombane, has big plans for student development. He says his office wants to help Kovsies increase its throughput rate and produce socially well-adjusted and employable graduates in South Africa, the continent and anywhere in the world.

Before joining Kovsies, he was employed as Director: Student Life, Governance and Culture at Walter Sisulu University. Pura, who has a background in Human Resources, Business Management and Corporate Law, says his academic training has empowered him with skills to ensure that the Student Life and Leadership is properly led, governed and managed.

Prof. Hasina Ebrahim, School for Social Sciences and Language Education

This former academic from the University of Kwa-Zulu Natal was appointed as Associate Professor at our School for Social Sciences and Language Education in the Faculty of Education. Amongst others, she is the project coordinator for the Faculty’s Early Childhood and Foundation Phase Teacher Education Programme and the MEd and PhD supervisor in the programme.

Prof. Ebrahim is also the Deputy-President of the first South African Research Association for Early Childhood Education (birth to nine). “This is certainly a milestone to profile the university in terms of its thrust towards excellence in research,” she says. One of the main aims of the association is to shape the research agenda for a marginalised field in South Africa.

Prof. Corli Witthuhn, Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences

Description: 2011 Appointments_Corli Witthuhn Tags: 2011 Appointments_Corli Witthuhn

Prof. Corli Witthuhn, a former Bloemfonteiner, attained her PhD in Microbiology at our university. Therafter, in 1999, she was appointed as a lecturer at Stellenbosch University and later as Vice-Dean.

Currently she is our Vice-Dean in the Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences. She hopes to sustain her research here at our University.

Her life motto? “Opportunities are presented in the form of obstacles,” she says.

Prof. Melanie Walker

Prof. Melanie Walker is a prominent South African scholar who has been working as Professor of Higher Education Studies at the world-leading University of Nottingham in the UK, where she been Director of Postgraduate Students and a Director of Research in the Faculty of Social Sciences. She will join the University of the Free State in February 2012 as Senior University Professor in the Postgraduate School.

She is a graduate of the University of KwaZulu-Natal and the University of Cape Town, where she completed her PhD, after teaching in disadvantaged secondary schools for a number of years. Prior to working at Nottingham she worked at the Universities of Sheffield, West of England and Glasgow, as well as the Universities of Cape Town and the Western Cape. She is also a Fellow of the Human Development and Capability Association. She is currently Director of Research Training and a senior researcher in the EU-funded Marie Curie EDUWEL project, which includes senior researchers from eight European countries and 15 early-stage researchers.

With a long-standing commitment to social-justice research and equality practices, she is currently widely recognised internationally as leading in the application of the capability approach and human development to higher education policy and practice. Among others, she has led or participated in research projects funded by the NRF (South Africa), the Higher Education Academy (UK), HEFCE (UK), EU, and ESRC/DfID, which funded the Public-Good Professionals’ Capability Index research project.

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