Every Norfolk Island owl alive today descends from a conservation decision made in 1987. Back then, a small group of people took a chance and flew two male owls from New Zealand, hoping to get at least a couple of baby owls. They had few options because only a handful of owls remained on the island. By the time scientists confirmed that only one owl remained, there were no other Norfolk Island boobooks left for it to mate with. The Norfolk Island boobook owl was close to becoming completely extinct in the eighties because most of the large hollow trees had been cut down, leaving only a couple of owls with nesting sites.
One female and a rescue plan no one had tried before
