To save the endangered spotted owl, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) is executing a bold and controversial project that would require killing up to 450,000 barred owls over 30 years. Animal welfare defenders and the key public land manager in Washington State are standing against the choice, which is a part of the final environmental impact statement (EIS) that was released on Wednesday.
Besides the East, barred owls are also found on the West Coast which has created conflicts with local spotted owls. The state of affairs was dramatized by Bridget Moran, deputy state supervisor for the FWS in Oregon: "We have to control the populations of barred owls. Spotted owls' time to be saved is decreasing."
The proposal proposes a crude idea in which trained shooters would use territorial sounds to lure out barred owls and then shoot them. It is not permissible to hunt in public areas. According to the FWS, citing the 2021 study that showed a 10% rise in the spotted owl survival rate when the barred owls were eliminated, the decrease in barred owl populations will make placement of spotted owls in a competitive setting possible, even if the issues are not purely ethical.
Even so, the critics are articulating both ethical and utilitarian problems. Friends of Animals' Jennifer Best called the plan "meaningless and cruel." Hilary Franz, the public lands commissioner for Washington, doubted the project's economic sustainability and expected the cost of $235 million in a time frame of 30 years. The FWS should finalize a decision within the next month. A permit under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act will be needed to go on.
References:
Bush, E. (2024, July 4). Federal agency plans to cull 450,000 barred owls to boost another species. NBCNews.com. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/federal-agency-plans-cull-450000-barred-owls-boost-another-species-rcna160281
Add comment
Comments