Giant Owls Discovered in NW China Desert

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Sunday, May 18, 2003

Giant Owls Discovered in NW China Desert

Seven huge owls, each weighing more than eight kilograms, have been found in the Muus Desert of northwest China's Shaanxi Province.

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Seven huge owls, each weighing more than eight kilograms, have been found in the Muus Desert of northwest China's Shaanxi Province.

The owls were found by Yang Zhanguo, a contractor at a wild cherry forest in Yulin City, on May 13.

The gigantic owls, 80 centimeters tall and with a wing span reaching one meter, are capable of taking adult hares, their main prey.

Although no biologists have made a formal study of the owls, Yang believed they could be described as the "King of the Owls".

With a total land area of 100,230 square kilometers, the Muus Desert is located in the territories of Shaanxi and the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.

The cherry forest where the owls live covers an area of about 266.7 hectares, a rare green oasis in the vast desert.

The wild cherry trees that grow there have been listed by the State Association for the Protection of Endangered Wild Plants.

Yang said the appearance of the owls could be attributed to thethriving cherry forest which has become a haven for desert animals.

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