The rarest breed of owl, Bornean Rajah, has been observed in the mountains of Malaysia. The bird was first discovered in 1892, though it has not been seen since, making the species a semi-mythical creature. The bird was seen for the second time in 124 years, in 2016 in the Mount Kinabalu of Malaysia. The third time it was seen in 2021 in the same region by one of the researchers. Based on these data, scientists have confirmed that the beautiful owl with orange eyes was a truly mysterious Bornean Rajah, smithsonianmag.com reports.
The Bornean Rajah was discovered in 1892 by English Ornithologist Richard Baudelaire Sharp. To date, only two species of this bird have been known: the Bornean Otus brookii brookii with orange eyes and the Sumatran Otus brookii solokensis with yellow eyes. According to researchers, the newly observed owl is a third distinct sub-species of bird.
The size of the bird also made it difficult to catch it. The bird is only 23 centimeters tall and weighs less than 100 grams. The Bornean Rajah is not yet fully explored.
