By Tim Binnall
Authorities in England find themselves with a strange mystery on their hands after a beloved owl was seemingly stolen from its enclosure over the weekend. The very weird case came to light on Sunday when conservationists who oversee the sizeable Wimbledon and Putney Commons park in London announced that the bird, dubbed Merlin, had gone missing from its flight pen. Explaining that the tawny owl "has been in captivity since he was a chick and is now almost 30 years old," they posited that the creature is unlikely to have simply escaped from the habitat and there were no signs of an animal attack that could account for its disappearance.
Having ruled out those two possible scenarios, the group concluded that a nefarious individual must have somehow stolen the bird from his home and, as such, indicated that they have alerted police to the suspected heist. Meanwhile, animal experts have reportedly expressed bewilderment at the curious caper since tawny owls are not all that rare in England and, thus, the pilfered creature is of little value on the black market. While zoo director Pam Broughton noted that thieves occasionally take such birds to keep on their property as a means of showing off to guests, she offered the rather unsympathetic observation that "no one's going to be impressed by Merlin."
With that in mind, Broughton ultimately mused that "someone must have particularly wanted this owl" and were willing to go to considerable lengths to procure the creature that has become something of an icon at the park over the last three decades. For now, the Wimbledon and Putney Commons are calling on the public for any tips regarding Merlin's disappearance while police investigate the case. Hopefully authorities can determine the owl's whereabouts sooner rather than later as one imagines being taken from its home of thirty years must be extremely traumatic for the unfortunate owl.