Pappa returns, but also doesn’t return

Pappa the Pot Plant Owl has finally returned home, but to the surprise of those who keep an eye on him, he’s not the ‘original’ Pappa, given how young he is.

By now, most people are aware of the Trichomonas gallinae parasite, but for those who aren’t, it is a parasite that preys on birds, weakening them by preventing them from eating. Trich manifests itself and develops inside a seed, which is naturally common feed for pigeons and doves right around the world.

This then makes the birds easy prey for raptors such as owls, who then feast on them. This is what ‘Pappa’ is believed to have done shortly before he was captured and diagnosed with the Trich parasite in March. Once he was captured on 14 April, he was taken to the Bryanston Avian, Exotic and Small Animal Clinic for treatment, in the hope that they would be able to save him from the deadly parasite.

Also Read:

https://roodepoortnorthsider.co.za/292801/pappa-saved-from-trich-on-recovery-path-print-pappa-has-been-saved-from-trich-now-on-the-path-to-recovery-web/

He received immediate treatment, was operated on to remove a growth in his throat, and was eventually released and returned home on Friday, 5 April.

It was then, according to a Facebook post by Allan Eccles, who monitors Pappa in the complex in which he [Allan] lives, that they realised there was something different about this ‘Pappa’.

“We have realised that this is not the original Pappa, given how young he is,” the post read. “Somewhere in the past we must have lost the original Pappa, like we lost the original female.”

Despite the bad news that the original Pappa is no more, there was still a light at the end of the tunnel. “The good news is that this male is still a PPO [Pot Plant Owl] Pappa and has claimed the balcony as his family’s nesting spot.”