Feds advance plan to kill barred owls in Northwest

Federal wildlife officials are considering a very unethical and unpleasing idea: to hire armed bird specialists to shoot down a species of owl known as the barred owl. This reason, they proclaim, is not in vain though, as they state it is for the "protection" of the northern spotted owl. The northern spotted owl has been labeled a species threatened with extinction and the cause of it is the barred owl. Supervisors and officials state that if the barred owl is not contained properly, the spotted owl will only decline in numbers. The plan calls for the killing of 3,603 barred owls over the next four years in specified locations. Some, however, do not agree with this plan at all. They proclaim that shooting these barred owls will not benefit them in any way. While the idea of preserving an almost extinct species is appealing, the main focus is to protect habitat and animals, and shooting barred owls contradicts this idea. Many opinions have come up as to how to solve this issue, and researchers have attempted at reducing the amount of logging in national forests. This way, the spotted owl will not leave its habitat and will continue to flourish. This idea, however, has not worked out, as the spotted owls' numbers continue to descend. Many have started to kill these barred owls when they are spotted, but the problem with this is its price. It would cost $3 million to kill 3,603 barred owls, and even more to capture them, as it is a very difficult and precarious job. I personally feel that rash decisions often lead to the worst results. There is no exact, definite proof that the barred owl is the cause for the spotted owls' extinction. It is even stated that study areas are still being conducted to see if spotted owls will migrate back to their homes after the barred owls are gone. This simply shows how unethical and immoral we are with our choices. This is not a small matter to be overlooked. This is the killing of nature to preserve nature. How is this any different than humans slaughtering elephants for their ivory tusks? Should humans also be persecuted for that? This balance in nature is unsettling. I suggest capturing the barred owls. We can keep them in a safe environment, away from the spotted owls to truly discover if they are the cause of their extinction, or the forest wildfires are. If it is discovered that they are, there is no reason to kill them. Why not just leave them in a separate environment where they can thrive? While the capturing of these owls is rather pricey, the satisfaction of saving nature and animals defeats that guilt.
Source: Mercury News