Extreme situations often lead to desperate solutions. In an ecological sense, the danger of extinction of some species has led man to inject radioactive material into the horns of rhinoceroses. In New Zealand, a wild cat hunting contest has even been organised. Now, in the United States, they have made a truly shocking decision: a massacre of owls.
The plan. Seeking to save the endangered spotted owl species from possible extinction, U.S. wildlife authorities are adopting a controversial plan to deploy trained marksmen into the dense forests of the West Coast. The goal: kill approximately half a million barred owls who are “displacing” their cousins.
Posted a week ago in an official statement On the environmental impact side, the government agency proposed the cull over a 30-year period. At this point, officials also explained that while half a million might seem like an exaggerated number, the plan would actually result in the annual elimination of less than 0.5% of the country’s barred owls.
Because. The idea has been presented as a way of Protect the Northern Spotted Owla species native to western North America that is increasingly threatened by competition from the larger, faster-breeding barred owl. The invasive owl’s growing range could also jeopardize the future of another related species, the California spotted owl, it added.
As explained in a statement Kessina LeeOregon state supervisor for the Fish and Wildlife Service, “barred owl management is not about one owl versus another. Without active barred owl management, the northern spotted owl will likely become extinct throughout all or most of its range, despite decades of collaborative conservation efforts.”
The arrival of the barrados. The documents say these birds from the eastern U.S. invaded West Coast territory when they moved west of the Mississippi River in the early 20th century due to human-induced changes in the Great Plains and northern boreal forests.
Since then, the smaller spotted owls have been unable to compete with the invaders, which need less space to survive and are more aggressive than the spotted owls (dwindling their populations). between 65 and 85% between 1995 and 2017 in some areas).
Previous plans. The idea is also a consequence of the failure of previous policies to save spotted owls, when they focused on protecting the forests where they live, leading to fights over logging but also helping to slow the birds’ decline. The proliferation of barred owls in recent years ultimately undermined all the previous work.
Defense of animals. Of course, the controversial move has had its share of backlash among animal rights activists. The idea of killing one bird species to save another has divided conservationists. In some ways, it’s also reminiscent of previous government efforts to save West Coast salmon. killing sea lions and cormorants that feed on fish, and for Preserve warblers by killing cowbirds that lay eggs in their nests.
When and how the slaughter would take place. If the project is finally approved in the coming months, the idea is that the shootings will begin next spring. How? Barred owls are attracted Using megaphones to broadcast recorded owl calls and then shot with shotguns. The bodies are buried in the same place.
Of course, not everyone with a gun will be able to shoot. Only those who have been trained by the government will be allowed to do so, and under no circumstances will public hunting of barred owls be permitted.
Controversial, although supported. The truth is that although it may seem like an extreme measure, killing one species to save another is classified under the Endangered Species Act United States. In this regard, and according to the government agency’s research, “the elimination of the barred owl, like all invasive species management, is not something the Service takes lightly.”
The study says the Service has a legal responsibility to do everything possible to prevent the extinction of the federally listed northern spotted owl and support its recovery, “while also addressing significant threats to California spotted owls,” it says.
An exorbitant cost. Finally, the controversy has also moved on to the amount that a plan of this magnitude would have: approximately 235,000,000 dollarsmaking it one of the most expensive endangered species management projects in history.
In addition, animal welfare associations warn that the mass killing of barred parrots would cause serious disruption to forest ecosystems and could lead to other species, including spotted parrots, being killed by mistake.
Other desperate measures. The truth is that, although it may seem extreme, the measure is far from unusual. We said it months ago that to save species, sometimes it is necessary to exterminate invaders, and science has been detecting them for some time. That is why even more drastic measures have been taken with invasive species: eating them directly.
Image | Pexels, Bureau of Land, Tatiana Gettelman, Matthew Paulson
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