An attempt to improve the ‘Owl’s reputation’ in Kuwait

The aim of this campaign is to dispel the myths associated with this bird and to make people aware of its ecological importance. Many negative stories and legends are wrapped around the owl in the culture of people living in Gulf countries and Arabs.

But now a girl in Kuwait has started a campaign to change these stories about owls.

He says that there are many misconceptions about owls. They protect the environment and are friendly to man.’

In Asian society, the owl’s flat face symbolizes ‘death, poverty and magic’, but to the Greeks, on the contrary, it is the bird of ‘wisdom’, as its image was decorated on some coins and statues at that time.

The campaign was launched five years ago in 2016.

Jahan Al-Kandari, head of the volunteer team and owner of two birds, remembers her childhood years when she had a ‘carved owl.’

She says, ‘I loved him from my childhood, when I too was attracted to him. I loved his big eyes and the way they stand out with their unusual and distinctive texture.’

Jahan Al-Kandari is a kindergarten teacher and wants to continue her campaign in the Gulf countries as well as globally. ‘If you love something, you will always have a positive attitude about it,’ he says.

‘Positively yes, we have started to influence and change many perceptions about the bird.’

Jahan Al-Kandari added that one of the reasons for starting the campaign, which was founded by five Kuwaiti youths, was to ‘save owls from extinction and spread awareness about them.’

The Arab ‘National Geographic’ magazine has described this team from Kuwait as ‘the largest owl conservation team in the world in terms of numbers and diversity.

“This is the first fruit of our campaign, the media and people have started to care,” says Jahan Al-Kandari.

According to him, the price of owls is between 400 and 500 Kuwaiti dinars, but he says that ‘if the birds are less, the price can be doubled.’

During this campaign, which can be seen and read by local stations and newspapers in the Gulf, these volunteers participate in public places, schools, government events and others. Its members have reached 30, owning more than 30 ‘imported’ birds.

Ahmad al-Attiyah, a young man living in the capital, told Independent Arabia, “I can’t hunt them in Kuwait.”

‘I am proud to have her in my life. I love them and I can’t ignore them.’

This Kuwaiti youth bought his most expensive owl for seven hundred Kuwaiti dinars.

It is a curious bird that sees with its ears, as an owl can identify an object in record time by its sound. Its neck is flexible, it can rotate 280 degrees.

Interpretations and beliefs about him differ from one civilization, geography and another civilization, as the old Arab society interpreted his sad voice as mourning over a dead body.