Two eagle owls are on the loose in Limburg after escaping from different locations, local broadcaster 1Limburg said on Wednesday. Both have been spotted in the vicinity of the town of Sittard, the broadcaster said.

The first owl escaped from a zoo in Gangelt just over the border in Germany two weeks ago and another flew away from its owners in the village of Grevenbicht around the same time.

The Grevenbicht owl, known as Rhea, is ringed and was usually kept in captivity. The owl’s owners occasionally set it free to have a fly around but this time the owl flew off, never to return.

The eagle owl, known as a oehoe in Dutch, is one of the largest species of owl and the females, which are bigger than males, can grow a wingspan of almost a metre. There are a few breeding pairs in Limburg.

Two years ago an escaped eagle owl attacked dozens of people in Purmerend, north of Amsterdam, and generated newspaper headlines around the world. Several people needed hospital treatment for wounds to their heads during its five-week reign of terror, and the council recommended people carry umbrellas as protection.

The owl was later caught and now lives in Amsterdam’s Artis zoo.