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About 50 advocates of wildlife preservation gathered Friday morning near the Ramona Grasslands Preserve to celebrate the planned release of 24 Western burrowing owls that were mostly bred in captivity at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park.
The owls, which were brought to the 210 acres of open space near Highland Valley and Rangeland roads in mid-February, are being kept in enclosures. They are tentatively scheduled for release March 17 in the hopes they will settle in the area and ultimately breed with wild owls.
A genetically diverse population of burrowing owls is better able to adapt to change and more resistant to disease, said Kathleen Pollett, senior conservation habitat manager for San Diego Habitat Conservancy.