Scapegoat Species? A Plan to Shoot 450,000 Barred Owls
On the West Coast, calls from one owl species are dwindling: the famous northern spotted owl.
Designated as threatened under the federal Endangered Species Act in 1990, the spotted owl population is at risk of extinction. In an effort to protect the spotted owls, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has proposed the Barred Owl Management Strategy. The proposal is expected to be approved or denied within the next month.
If passed, about 450,000 barred owls would be killed over the next 30 years. Each year about 15,000 barred owls would be shot, less than 0.5% of their total population in North America, according to Fish and Wildlife.
Why? Because barred owls are an invasive species. Native to eastern North America, they began to appear in Washington state in the 1970s. Barred owls were first noted to be displacing spotted owls in the 1980s, according to Robin Bown, the barred owl management strategy lead.
https://www.postalley.org/2024/08/18/scapegoat-species-a-plan-to-shoot-450000-barred-owls/
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