Baby owls rescued from Glastonbury named after Guns N’ Roses

Two baby owls rescued from underneath the Pyramid Stage at this year’s Glastonbury have been named after members of Guns N’ Roses.

The first of the two owl chicks was found by a festival-goer under the left steps of the Pyramid Stage, during the rock group’s two-and-a-half hour headline set on Saturday (June 24).

The punter gave the rescued owl the name Axl — after the band’s frontman Axl Rose — and it was taken to the RSPCA West Hatch Wildlife near Taunton, before being transferred to a Somerset-based wildlife charity, Secret World Wildlife Rescue.

Within just one day of Axl being located beneath the main stage, a second chick was found in the same space and also taken to the rescue centre.

Thought to be the sibling of Axl, the chick was given the name Slash — in homage to the moniker of the Guns N’ Roses guitarist Saul Hudson. The team at Secret World Wildlife Rescue (SWWR) in Somerset said the recovery was “the most unusual disturbance case” this year.

Fundraising Manager at Secret World Wildlife Rescue, David Plant, also issued a statement about the discovery of the two owls, and said that they “must have been terrified” after nearly two full days of loud music (via The Independent).

“When Guns N’ Roses were playing ‘Welcome to the Jungle’, I’m sure they didn’t realise how close they actually were to wildlife,” he began. “This is possibly the most unusual disturbance case we’ve heard about this year, but it just goes to show the importance of checking your surroundings for wildlife before any activity.”

Plant continued: “The Pyramid Stage frame is left in place all year when Worthy Farm goes back to being a dairy farm. Clearly a pair of little owls thought it would be a great place to make a nest. They are a cavity-nesting species, favouring holes in old trees, but they have been recorded nesting in rabbit holes and take well to man-made nest boxes.”

Later, he also stated that it appeared as if the owls’ parents “abandoned their nest once festival preparation began”, meaning it is “difficult to say how long the chicks were left alone.”

Commenting on their current wellbeing, he added some Guns N’ Roses puns to the update, stating: “We’re hopeful that they won’t be ‘Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door’ any time soon, and we’ll be making plans to return them to the wild once they’re old enough, so they’ll get their chance to experience some ‘November Rain’ later in the year.”

This year’s instalment of the Worthy Farm festival included headline slots from Arctic Monkeys (June 23) and Elton John (June 25). For the latter, the performance marked the final date of his extensive ‘Farewell Yellow Brick Road’ tour, which included over 350 shows over five years.

Check out NME’s top highlights from Glastonbury 2023 here.