New Delhi, Feb 8 (IANS): A little owl nicknamed Plump broke the internet when it was revealed that she had become too fat to fly, and has since spent a few weeks at the Suffolk Owl Sanctuary in the UK, which put her under observation and placed her on a strict diet.

In an Instagram post, the Suffolk Owl Sanctuary wrote, "This soggy little owl was found in a ditch. Usually in these instances we assume injury that is preventing the owl from flying -- occasionally becoming wet causes them to become grounded too -- so you can imagine our surprise that when we examined her, we found her to be simply extremely obese!

"She weighed 245 gm on admission to the sanctuary -– around a third heavier than a large healthy female little owl and she was unable to fly effectively due to the fatty deposits."

"She has since spent a few weeks with us under observation and been placed on a strict diet. We can now happily say she has trimmed down to a more natural weight," it added in the post.

As the owl lost weight, the Suffolk Owl Sanctuary released her back into the wild. The sanctuary shared a post with the caption, "Wow... what a little star Plump has turned out to be! Here she is upon release, flying..."

As the news came out in the public domain, social media was filled with reactions.

A user wrote, "Wonderful news. Let's hope she sticks to her diet out in the wild. Them mice are very fattening. Lol."

Another wrote, "Interesting to see how much more obesity will be seen among wild animals with the warmer temps. I wish I could blame my weight gain on it."

A post read, "Excellent! Let's hope she lays off the pies from now on."