Screech Owl Team
Attacked
Bird researchers
traveling through rural
Costa Rica in pursuit of
the elusive Pacific
screech owl were
brutally attacked August
3 by an angry mob just
outside the town of
Liberia.
Wielding machetes, the
group of a dozen locals
had mistaken
ornithologist Jim Zook
and his colleague,
National Geographic
grantee Cagan
Sekercioglu, for
thieves.
While driving down a
rural road, the
researchers heard the
distinctive call of the
owl, found only along a
1,600-kilometre stretch
of the Pacific coast -
from Oaxaca, Mexico, to
Costa Rica.
A group of local
residents, believing the
researchers to be
thieves, attacked them
with rocks and machetes.
Zook and Sekercioglu
ran, but Zook was
caught. He deflected
machete blows to the
head with his hand.
Police arrived about 15
minutes later, broke up
the crowd, and reunited
the researchers.
An ambulance carted Zook
to the nearest hospital,
and Sekercioglu
followed. On the way, a
large bird flew past
Sekercioglu's broken
windshield. Camera in
hand, he stopped the
car—and spotted a
Pacific screech owl in a
nearby tree. He managed
to take photos.
"The cops would not
believe me," said
Sekercioglu. "I showed
them the photos, and
they were amazed. One
cop said, 'Un milagro. A
miracle.'"
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