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Your photos could be damaging to snowy owls says facebook groups amid photo ban

Dec 12, 2022 by Alex Baker 2 Comments

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Your snowy owl photos could be damaging says facebook groups

What does a stressed owl look like? If you’re one of many amateur wildlife photographers who snap images of snowy owls, you could be unwittingly contributing to it.

According to the Bangor Daily News, several social media groups are actively banning photographs of snowy owls in a bid to protect the birds from disturbances.

The Facebook group Maine Wildlife is one such group instigating the ban. With over 127,000 members, their reach is quite broad. Allegedly the issue was first brought up by a few professional photographers in the group.

“There have been several instances where at least a dozen people were too close to the owls, so they would fly off to get a shot of them flying,” Troy Dyer, the group Admin, told Newsweek. “[Owls] need to save their energy to hunt, and if they expend a lot of energy flying off, they could possibly die from exhaustion/hunger.”

In 2021 snowy owls were labeled as “vulnerable” in the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List of Threatened Species. This is the last step before a species becomes officially endangered due to population numbers declining. According to Smithsonian magazine, snowy owl numbers have been in rapid decline since 2013, largely due to habitat loss in the Arctic regions. There are currently just 30,000 adults remaining in the North American region.

Part of the issue appears to be that snowy owls roost out in the open during the day. This makes them particularly vulnerable to people seeking to photograph them and capture those iconic wildlife shots.

Essentially, I don’t think that this is an issue about amateur versus professional photographers. I have actually met plenty of amateur wildlife photographers who put the wildlife first and are clearly extremely knowledgeable about the animals and their habits. What it boils down to is respecting wildlife.

Don’t disturb it just to get ‘the shot’. Maybe you have to stake it out for hours in order to see it fly off. That’s all part and parcel of wildlife photography. You need patience. You’ll get much better photos and you’ll be helping to conserve the very thing you’re photographing too.

What do you think? Is this nannying, or is it essential to educate others?

[Via Newsweek]

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Filed Under: news Tagged With: Facebook Groups, snowy owls, wildlife photography

About Alex Baker

Alex Baker is a portrait and lifestyle driven photographer based in Valencia, Spain. She works on a range of projects from commercial to fine art and has had work featured in publications such as The Daily Mail, Conde Nast Traveller and El Mundo, and has exhibited work across Europe

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Alex Baker is a portrait and lifestyle driven photographer based in Valencia, Spain. She works on a range of projects from commercial to fine art and has had work featured in publications such as The Daily Mail, Conde Nast Traveller and El Mundo, and has exhibited work across Europe

Dave Williams is an accomplished travel photographer, writer, and best-selling author from the UK. He is also a photography educator and published Aurora expert. Dave has traveled extensively in recent years, capturing stunning images from around the world in a modified van. His work has been featured in various publications and he has worked with notable brands such as Skoda, EE, Boeing, Huawei, Microsoft, BMW, Conde Nast, Electronic Arts, Discovery, BBC, The Guardian, ESPN, NBC, and many others.

John Aldred is a photographer with over 20 years of experience in the portrait and commercial worlds. He is based in Scotland and has been an early adopter - and occasional beta tester - of almost every digital imaging technology in that time. As well as his creative visual work, John uses 3D printing, electronics and programming to create his own photography and filmmaking tools and consults for a number of brands across the industry.

Dunja Djudjic is a multi-talented artist based in Novi Sad, Serbia. With 15 years of experience as a photographer, she specializes in capturing the beauty of nature, travel, and fine art. In addition to her photography, Dunja also expresses her creativity through writing, embroidery, and jewelry making.

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