Zoo Idaho Welcomes Geno, the Great Horned Owl

One of the night’s stealthiest predators is now calling Zoo Idaho home.

The great horned owl’s journey to the zoo started in the Salmon area. He was taken in by a family as a fledgling and was being kept as a pet. From there, he was turned over to officials with the Idaho Department of Fish and Game who then took him to Zoo Idaho. Named Geno, after recently retired Zoo Idaho employee Gene McAffee, he will join the Raptor Education program with other birds of prey Athena the red-tailed hawk, Horus the turkey vulture, and Valkyrie the bald eagle.

“We’re excited to have Geno join the Zoo Idaho family,” said Rachael Shearouse, Education Curator. “We’d rather have him spend his life in the wild but because of his time around people, he doesn’t know how to be a great horned owl. Now, we can have Geno share the wonders of nature with the public.”

Currently, Zoo Idaho has another great horned owl, Hoodini, on exhibit to the public.

Zoo Idaho is an indigenous species zoo, housing numerous orphaned or injured animals from the region who would have likely not survived in the wild.

For more information on Zoo Idaho, visit zooidaho.org or like the zoo’s Facebook page at facebook.com/ZooIdaho.