Jose Camacho was frustrated when he found out two pairs of burrowing owls were evicted from their homes to make room for a new dormitory building on the Boca Raton campus at Florida Atlantic University.
As president of FAU’s Sustainability Club, the environmental engineering student started a petition that asks the university to "take a different approach" to campus development in order to protect the owls. It has more than 1,500 signatures.
Camacho is glad the school is growing, and he acknowledges that demand for affordable on-campus housing has intensified in recent years as enrollment has increased alongside the cost of rents in South Florida.
"Buildings need to be built," Camacho said, "but we’re trying to figure out a way we can work together so this happens in a sustainable way, and [a way that's] beneficial for the owls, as well."
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Siena Botzer-Gunter, a geo-science major and a club member who lives on campus, agrees. "It’s really nice to see the wildlife around, especially when it’s your mascot. I feel that's something that should be protected and valued for the school," she said.
"We're not trying to stop development," Botzer-Gunter added. "But we are trying to work morally, ecologically, in a way that not only protects the owls but supports and promotes the school in a positive light."
When university officials started planning for the new dorm — a seven-story residential hall, which is expected to be ready for occupancy by fall 2026 — they discovered two pairs of burrowing owls on the site. Because the owls are a protected species, they needed a special permit from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to build.
The permit cost $1,900, and it allows the university to "non-lethally harass the owls” in order to make them leave. That means officials are allowed to frighten the owls without making physical contact. They can insert a video scope into the burrow to see if there are eggs or flightless live young, and if there aren't, they can collapse and fill the burrows.
The fee for the permit goes toward the state's Imperiled Species Permitting Conservation Fund.
Burrows are year-round homes for these owls. They are a nest for their young. They offer protection from predators and storms, and are a place to store food. Conservationists, students and faculty are pushing for the university to do more to protect its beloved mascot, such as creating artificial burrows in safe places.
“All of the available suitable habitats are already occupied, so they’re sort of evicted, and have no obvious place to go."FAU associate professor Colin Hughes
FAU representatives would not agree to an interview for this story. In an emailed statement, Joshua Glanzer, Associate Vice President for Media Relations and Public Affairs, wrote that FAU works year-round in managing appropriate habitat and conservation areas for burrowing owls and gopher tortoises. He stressed that the school received the appropriate permit from state wildlife officials.
Glanzer added that the university did explore installing artificial burrows. "However due to the site constraints for the project the proposed location of the artificial burrows was not close enough to allow for this mitigation as an option per the FFWC guidelines," he said.
He did not answer follow-up questions, such as who proposed the locations of artificial burrows, why the proposed locations weren't appropriate, or whether alternate locations were considered.
FAU campus is a "sanctuary" for this protected species
The National Audubon Society named FAU’s Boca Raton campus a burrowing owl sanctuary in 1971. It was an honorary designation that doesn't come with legal protections. According to FAU, the campus is now home to 32 burrowing owls.
The campus maintains preserves dedicated to owls, gophers and other wildlife. The largest one is on the northwest part of the Boca Raton campus, and it boasts acres of woods and some open grass areas.
But the majority of the burrowing owls that live on campus make their homes outside the preserves — they’re attracted to open, unirrigated fields — and many of these areas are planned for future development.
If they're driven from their homes, where are the burrowing owls going to live? That's a question Colin Hughes has been raising. He's been an associate professor of biological science at FAU for 20 years.
“All of the available suitable habitats are already occupied, so they’re sort of evicted, and have no obvious place to go,” Hughes said.
Hughes argued instead for FAU to build new dorms on top of existing parking lots. A multi-story building with a parking garage underneath would take up less space and leave more open land for the owls to burrow, he said.
More owls used to live on this preserve, according to Kelly Heffernan, a biologist and a conservationist. But invasive iguanas have taken over and are destroying the owls’ habitat.
“The iguana comes in, goes into your burrow, and as an owl, you’ve either lost your eggs, or you’ve been evicted," Heffernan said. "If the iguana is small enough, maybe the owl thinks they can fight the iguana… but an owl is only four ounces."
In 2009, Heffernan founded the Broward County nonprofit Project Perch, whose sole purpose is to protect and nurture the Florida burrowing owl. Since then, she’s been working with developers to demonstrate that burrowing owls can live harmoniously alongside humans.
She said if the iguanas were removed from this section of the preserve, the owls could thrive here again. According to Glanzer, the university has worked with state wildlife officials to remove the iguanas, but this remains an ongoing issue.
As development proceeds, owl habitats are in the way
On the south side of campus, right next to the construction site where the new dorms are being built, Heffernan spots a family of owls: two adults and a baby.
This family of owls is easy to miss. Standing up, the adults are only eight inches tall, and their legs are hidden in the burrow. Against the backdrop of grass and dirt, it’s hard to spot their light brown, spotted feathers and yellow eyes.
Heffernan said the burrows look newly dug, leading her to believe these could be owls who were evicted by the construction site. "It's the wrong place for burrows," she said.
“They’re falsely attracted here because it's still a wide open green space for them, but the minute we get decent rain, it's going to flood down here. This area is meant to collect water.”
“It's really about sustainability and finding shared-use places that we can share with owls, that won't stand in the way of development but will help the owls exist side-by-side."Kelly Heffernan
Heffernan said a portion of this area could be a perfect spot for her to place artificial burrows, a service she provides to developers and builders through her nonprofit.
Since this area is right next to the construction site where the owls’ burrows were destroyed, there’s a good chance they would have relocated here, and with artificial burrows, they would have been safe, she argued.
WLRN sent a list of detailed questions to FAU inquiring why artificial burrows were not installed and how that decision was made. The spokesman, Glanzer, did not provide much clarity. He wrote that the state didn't approve potential burrow sites because "they were deemed not appropriate areas."
According to FWC, the placement of artificial burrows should be done in advance of a construction project, with the goal of encouraging owls to move to a suitable place.
Heffernan said applying for permits to create artificial burrows or to relocate owls can be more complicated and take more time.
“It's much easier to put through a permit where you just have to pay the amount and then you’re allowed to move on. You scope the burrow, and you make sure no owls are harmed in the process, you are allowed to leave them homeless, and you go on your way with your development. The rules allow that, and that’s an easy permit for the state,” Heffernan said.
Heffernan said displacing owls has a detrimental impact on their ability to survive. But she has hope for them.
“This is fixable," she said. "These guys are really adaptable. They adapt to humans. They live amongst us like our backyard birds.
"It's really about sustainability and finding shared-use places that we can share with owls, that won't stand in the way of development but will help the owls exist side by side," she said.
The Boca Raton campus used to have 120 acres of preserves. It’s currently down to 95. FAU’s master plan shows that more development is coming — and the land where this threatened species live is in the way.
