Owls said suffering due to 'Potter' books

NEW DELHI, Nov. 17 (UPI) -- A crisis in India involving endangered owl species has some putting the blame at the feet of the Harry Potter books and movies, environmentalists say.

India's Environment and Forest Minister Jairam Ramesh says the country's population has become infatuated with owls as a result of the book series and films, and many parents have bought wild owls from illegal bird traders to give to their children as pets, LiveScience.com reported Wednesday.

"Following Harry Potter, there seems to be a strange fascination even among the urban middle classes for presenting their children with owls," Ramesh said.

Owls are featured in the books and films delivering mail to Harry and the other young wizards.

Ramesh's comments coincided with the release of a report from the conservation group Traffic about the illegal trade, trapping and utilization of owls in India. Hunting or capturing in any way and trading of all Indian owl species is banned under the country's Wildlife Protection Act of 1972.

Traffic is calling for measures, including better law enforcement, to curb the trade in owls.

Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling responded to growing media reports about the situation.

"There has been a spate of stories in the press recently concerning the upswing in popularity of keeping owls as pets, allegedly as a result of the Harry Potter books," Rowling wrote on her Web site. "If it is true that anybody has been influenced by my books to think that an owl would be happiest shut in a small cage and kept in a house, I would like to take this opportunity to say as forcefully as I can: please don't."