French treasure hunt to find golden owl comes to an end as prize 'unearthed'

A 31-year-long treasure hunt for a golden owl has come to an end this week after the clues were finally solved.

On The Trail Of The Golden Owl was a book of riddles published in 1993 by author Regis Hauser and artist Michel Becker.

It contained 11 difficult puzzles - and a hidden 12th one - to decipher the exact location of an owl token that would be exchanged for a golden equivalent.

This week the hunt came to an end, according to social media accounts linked to the search.

"Don't go digging!" said a message from Becker to thousands of followers, on the chat app Discord.

"We confirm that the Golden Owl countermark was unearthed last night," the message read, unleashing a wave of sad and crying emojis. "It is therefore useless to go digging."

The book built up a cult-like following, with a community of more than 200,000 players, known as "owlers", from France and abroad, according to the hunt's official website.

Becker previously said he oversaw and financed the creation of the prize, an owl made of 3kg of gold and 7kg of silver with diamond chips on its face.

Hauser, the intellectual architect of the riddles, said he initially used the pen name Max Valentin to prevent any of the keenest treasure hunters from seeking him out.

He died in 2009, Le Monde reported.

Becker and Hauser buried a replica of the owl, keeping the original safe.

The prize is estimated to be worth around €150,000 (£125,000), fans of the treasure hunt have speculated.

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In order to claim the treasure, the winning player could not simply find it with a metal detector but would have to submit the replica, along with answers to all of the book's riddles.

On Discord, members of the hunt channel were quick to react to news the replica may have been unearthed.

"It's the end of an era," one wrote.

One 30-year-old man told France Inter radio he had spent all his weekends over the past two years searching for the owl, and had at times found himself digging in the middle of the night.

"I'm disappointed because I thought I was close, but at the same time relieved that it's stopping," he reportedly said.

Jo Bartley, from Whitstable, Kent, runs the GoldenOwlHunt.com website and has previously travelled to France with her daughter to search for the prize.

"People all over the world have been searching for this treasure for decades," she told Sky News.

"It's been an amazing experience for me personally, I've gained so much knowledge, made so many friends, and dreamed of solving this for so many years.

"Me and my treasure hunt friends are sad that it's all over, but have huge respect for the winner. It must have been an amazing feeling to unearth this famous owl and win the prize.

"There's so little opportunity for adventure in modern life, and this treasure hunt has given thousands of people a chance to enjoy a real-life quest for fame and fortune."

We've included one of the clues below, taken from a popular fan site, to give you a taste of the riddles and cracking them.

Click here to view the rest on the fan website, and some commonly accepted answers.

(c) Sky News 2024: French treasure hunt to find golden owl comes to an end as prize 'unearthed'