THE REASON WHY
The Give a Hoot exhibition aims to show the wider public through paintings and sculptures the importance and beauty of our owl species as well as how we can help conserve them and raise money for research and conservation
MASKED OWL Tyto novaehollandiae.
Sculpture by Dr Mary-Jane Walker
BARKING OWL Ninox connivens.
Sculpture by Dr Mary-Jane Walker
Australia is home to 11 species of owl, many of which are now under severe threat due to habitat degradation and fragmentation, loss of nesting hollows and introduced predators.
Owls also face a silent killer. The widespread use of some mouse and rat poisons are specifically contributing to the loss of our special owls. This last factor is something we can all do something about right now.
We want to make Greater Geelong an owl safe haven by educating people in our area firstly not to buy rat poisons with the secondary anticoagulant rodenticides or SGARs in their composition. Alternatives exist in retailers now to these chemicals which are already banned in many places around the world. For better options see BirdLife Australia What to Buy and What to avoid
Preserving large trees with nest hollows, improving local indigenous plantings on private and public land, and installing nest boxes will also help Please help us save our owls and Give a Hoot to make a difference
DATES
Exhibition to launch at the National Wool Museum on Saturday July 12 with a special Owl Day event on Saturday 19 July and run through the Geelong Nature Festival 12-27 July 2025
EXHIBITION PARTNERS
The School of Lost Arts
James Street gallery and GenU artists
Geelong Nature Festival, COGG Environment and Biodiversity team
Mount Duneed Men’s Shed
MAKING A DIFFERENCE
The exhibition aims to raise awareness to the threat facing our owl species, including the three threatened owls in our area. The Barking Owl, Powerful Owl and Masked Owl, all of which are either classified as vulnerable or critically endangered. It also hopes to engage and empower people to do what they can to help Launching the Give a hoot campaign would also aim to produce an information sheet for people to know what they can do and promote the idea. We also aim to engage with retailers in the region to provide on shelf information for consumers on better rat poison choices if required.