Ivory set free at Prudhoe Bay

After a six month stay in Sitka, Alaska and 1,500 miles of jet travel in a dog kennel, “Ivory,” a two-year old Snowy owl, was released at Prudhoe Bay in late June by the Alaska Raptor Center.

Approximately 75 well-wishers were present to cheer her release, including Colville Inc. President Mark Helmericks who opened the cage door.

Ivory, a wild owl that was rescued in December, was released on a pingo overlooking the Saganavirktok (Sag) River.

Ivory’s care and release festivities, which included music, cake and ice cream, were underwritten by ConocoPhillips, Alaska Airlines, Ice Services, Brooks Range Supply, Colville and Prudhoe Bay General Store.

“The clear Arctic evening was a perfect setting for this bird to return to its summer habitat,” said Rollo Pool, ARC’s executive director who traveled to Prudhoe Bay with ARC veterinarian Dr. Vicky Vosburg.

“With the benefit of 24-hour daylight, the big white owl could be seen well into the night perching on high ground overlooking a freshwater lagoon, preening and starting to hunt,” Pool said.

Snowy owls are normally found in tundra regions of Alaska in the summer. When Ivory was spotted near the Sitka airport in December, she was weak and apparently unable to continue its winter migration, ARC said.

After determining that the owl was starving but uninjured, ARC kept her in its Sitka rehabilitation facility for the rest of the winter where she was fed a steady supply of frozen rats and exercised in a large aerobic training tube.

Vosburg said they decided to release her in the Arctic near summer solstice when prey, like lemmings, would be abundant.

Prior to the jet trip to the North Slope, the bird was given a clinic check-up and its talons and beak sharpened, she said.

Vosburg saw Ivory chasing a songbird within an hour of her release at Prudhoe.

Ivory is the first Snowy owl captured and released by the raptor center whose main focus is treating injured Bald eagles and other birds of prey. It was also the first time an owl was released in the Deadhorse service area of Prudhoe Bay. Hunting and firearms are banned across the oilfield, creating a virtual safe haven for wildlife.