From Mandela Namaste March 2, 2025

A Minneapolis nonprofit is speaking out after receiving reports of people harassing owls at a local bird sanctuary.

According to KMSP, two owls could be seen in deep conversation one evening, and the prospect of witnessing intimate animal communication up close enticed some reckless visitors to the Thomas Sadler Roberts Bird Sanctuary, despite numerous signs asking guests to stay on the trail. According to one of the reports, one visitor even brought a ladder near the owls’ tree to try and get a closer look.

“People were going off trail trying to get a closer view by being near the tree,” said Constance Pepin, a board member of Friends of Roberts Bird Sanctuary. “Apparently, we were told that it had been happening for a while.”

In a Facebook post responding to the incidents, Friends of Roberts representatives wrote: “Besides the fact that Park Board rules prohibit going off trail and harassing wildlife, it’s very troubling that anyone would think this behavior is OK anywhere, and especially in a bird sanctuary. No picture is worth harassing and harming wildlife, not to mention disrupting and alarming other visitors to the Sanctuary.”

Civilians interacting with wildlife remains a serious problem. People go viral frequently for trying to take close pictures of or make contact with animals, and scientists warn time and again that this behavior is ill-advised. It causes these animals stress and, in a worst-case scenario, could result in them leaving their habitats entirely.

“It’s pretty simple,” said Stephen Rice, a Sanctuary board member, according to KMSP. “Just go out and go to this place or other places out in nature and just observe. I think the proper thing to do is if you see an owl in the daytime, observe quietly from the trail, take pictures, but don’t get close, don’t play recordings.”

“It was shock and disappointment,” said Rice upon learning of the incidents. “They are nocturnally active. … During the day is their time to rest. It would be like somebody coming into your home in the middle of the night and waking you up.”