Researchers at the Northern Spotted Owl Breeding Program centre in Langley are hoping for their best year ever.

At least one chick is due to hatch any day now.

“Our target is to have ten breeding pairs. Right now we only have five. We monitor our breeding pairs and then in the breeding season, when they do lay their eggs, which is typically March, we take those eggs and artificially incubate them, then hand raise the chicks for ten days, and then those chicks can go back to their parents,” Program Coordinator Jasmine McCulligh told Radio NL.

Since the breeding program began in 2007, no chicks have been released sand there isn’t a definitive plan to release any yet.

McCulligh says when they do release chicks, it’ll likely be in Bridge River-Seton watershed area near Lillooet.

“That’s historically a good spot for the spotted owls, but we do want to make sure that the habitat is ideal for them before we do any releases,” she said.

The owls are near extinction, with fewer than 30 in Canada, 20 of those in captivity in the province.

“The spotted owl is what we consider an umbrella species,” McCulligh said. “They are a top predator in their habitat so you protect one spotted owl, the umbrella effect is protecting not just other species, but the land, the trees and the plants that all live there too.”

In the long run, the centre’s goal is to release between 10 and 20 chicks each year.

Northern spotted owls once thrived throughout old-growth forests ranging from B.C.’s southern Interior to California.

The B.C. Forest Ministry said at one time there were up to 1,000 owls in the province.