Mumbai Society And Daily Life

MUMBAI, INDIA - NOVEMBER 24, 2005: Four baby barn owls peer curiously at the camera after being rescued from an apartment in Vikhroli by NGO Manav Abhyas Kendra (an association for Friends of Snakes). The NGO was called in by the Mumbai Fire Brigade, who in turn were called in by the building residents when they heard hissing sounds emanating from the room and mistakenly assumed the room's baby owls occupants to be snakes. Barn owls tend to thrive in cities like Mumbai as their commen nesting ground is usually in sections of old buildings and they feed off the city's ample rat population. They are protected under the Wildlife Protection Act (Photo by Rajanish Kakade/Hindustan Times via Getty Images)