Oxford Bird Rescue to close after 10 years open, and thousands of birds saved
From reporter Amber Allott:
After nearly a decade rescuing hawks hit by cars and nursing injured owls back to health, one of Canterbury’s best-loved wildlife rescues will be closing its doors.
North Canterbury’s Oxford Bird Rescue Trust, run by husband-and-wife team Scott and Tracey Bowman, specialises in rescuing and rehabilitating raptors – or birds of prey.
The rescue announced on social media last week that Scott's health had taken a turn for the worse, and he had been diagnosed with motor neuron disease.
“Unfortunately there is no cure, it is aggressively debilitating and terminal and his prognosis isn't great, not giving him a lot of time left.
“We have spent the last few weeks looking at the road ahead and given his condition and rate of decline we simply can't offer the care required to continue rehabbing raptors.”
The rescue would finish rehabilitating the last few birds in its care, Bowman said, before closing for good.
For locals who found injured owls and hawks going forward, Bowman said they might face a bit more of a drive.
The South Island Wildlife Hospital, based at Willowbank Wildlife Reserve in Christchurch, would be taking on most of the raptor care, he said.
“They’re best set up, especially for the harriers.”
The pair planned to donate a lot of their equipment to other bird rescues, hopefully including the new Kaikōura Wildlife Hospital, Bowman said.
Their unique, custom-built hawk enclosure – which allowed full in-house rehabilitation – would go to the South Island Wildlife Hospital.
“There’s still going to be people doing it, it just won’t be us.”
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DOC is rolling out a new tool to help figure out what to tackle first when it comes to protecting our threatened species and the things putting them at risk.
Why does this matter? As Nikki Macdonald from The Post points out, we’re a country with around 4,400 threatened species. With limited time and funding, conservation has always meant making tough calls about what gets attention first.
For the first time, DOC has put real numbers around what it would take to do everything needed to properly safeguard our unique natural environment. The new BioInvest tool shows the scale of the challenge: 310,177 actions across 28,007 sites.
Now that we can see the full picture, it brings the big question into focus: how much do we, as Kiwis, truly value protecting nature — and what are we prepared to invest to make it happen?
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Poll: Canterbury is thriving on paper... but are you seeing evidence of Canterbury's improving economy?
As reported in the Press, Reserve Bank Governor Anna Breman recently gave a shout-out to our region, calling Canterbury a "stand-out" for how we recover from tough times. With tech firms growing and exporters investing, the business side of things is looking bright!
👉 But we know that "business growth" doesn't always mean the weekly shop gets any cheaper. While the city expands, many families feel like they’re just trying to keep their heads above water.
We want to know: With the business buzz of 2026, do you feel like things are finally looking up for your household, or does it still feel like a climb?
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22.2% Yes
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50% No
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27.8% In some areas ...
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