Targeted Control of Invasive Barred Owls to Protect Native Birds will Increase on US West Coast.
Wildlife Management Areas bureaucrats to drastically step up efforts to slaughter the barred owls as a measure to protect native owl species on the West Coast that are under threat. Next year, a long-term approach is to be developed to cut the number of barred owls in the woods of California, Oregon, and Washington. This process was concluded on Wednesday and it has some problems because barred owls, which are the objects of such treatment, often return despite being caught and removed.
In the next 30 years, the trained shooters will trap and dispatch barred owls in the maximum extent of an area of around 23,000 sq miles (60,000 sq km). The U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service has sought to remove up to 452,000 barred owls from its habitat. This drastic step has been proposed to save the native subspecies of the northern spotted owls and the California spotted owls which the more aggressive barred owls have outcompeted.
The recommendation that to save other species one species of birds is to be killed has elicited controversy among animal conservationists. Such an approach is quite similar to earlier attempts by the government to shield the salmon of the West Coast from sea lions and cormorants or safeguard the warblers through cowbirds’ extermination. It may be noted that the number of owls that are set to be killed is likely to form one of the biggest mass lethal removal of birds of prey.
The Invasion of Barred Owls: Threats of Native Species
Introduced from eastern North America, the barred owls has been sighted in the Pacific Northwest since the 1970s. Their acceleration in numbers has greatly threatened the existence of the smaller and more helpless spotted owls that needed more habitat land on their part. At present, there are about 100000 barred owls which are found in areas where there are approximately 7100 spotted owls, according to federal officials.
The other factor that has been attributed to the decline of frogs and salamanders is the presence of barred owls, which have adopted an invasive nature meant to prey on any species found in the forests.
David Wiens, a scientist for the U. S. Geological Survey who oversaw a study of barred owl removal that ended in 2020, stressed ecology. “It’s not like you have one owl and the other is another owl,” Wiens said. Hence, in view of this horrible demeanor, the barred owls feed on almost anything within the forest like frogs, rats, mice and other owl species.
A Decade of Experimental Control Efforts: The findings
Despite biologists’ criticism of its extrapolative basis, government officials claim that 15 years of experimental barred owl control, including in Northern California’s Hoopa Valley Indian Reservation prove this strategy can arrest the decline of spotted owls. But, as it was mentioned above, researchers pointed out the fact that in some regions the number of spotted owls is now very low and it will take some time to counteract the impact of barred owls’ aggressive invasion.
What this new plan means is that certain government agencies, land owners, tribes or companies will be permitted to undertake the killings. The entitlement of these shooters to possess loads of ammunition for owl shooting also has standard requirements that the shooters should produce evidence of training or prior experience in the identification of owls and shooting.
However, it is significant to note that only shooting of the barred owls will not be allowed for anyone who is a member of the public. The plan aims at keeping less than fifty percent of the northern spotted owl’s range to provide space sufficient enough for those native owls. Kessina Lee, the Fish and Wildlife Service Oregon state supervisor said, “This is really about trying to avoid the complete elimination of spotted owls. ”
Public Split and the Issue of Invasive Species Control
To a large extent Control of barred owl populations has drawn varying responses from wildlife lovers. Some think that it is important for the propagation of native species while some believe that it just deflects focus away from the need to protect the forests. They also take the position that capturing barred owls may not prevent the birds from coming to the region in large numbers.
Barred owls’ expansion has challenged years of conservation work designed to preserve the habitats of spotted owls in the forest. Previous measures towards slowing down the rate of deforestation were the measures that were enacted under the presidency of former president Bill Clinton which helped alleviate the rate of decline of the spotted owls but has been offset by the ever-advancing barred owls.
While California spotted owls were listed on the federal endangered species list last year, the act of listing is still pending. The northern spotted owls are threatened and thus conservation of these birds is under federal law.
The method of handling the Barred Owl is commonly referred to as the Barred Owl Removal Process.
Barred owls are known to be highly territorial which makes it quite easy to track them and obliterate the menace. Poultry farmers employ the use of loudspeakers to play the recorded tapes of the owl’s sound at night to call the birds close to the edge of the roads so that they could be shot dead using shotguns.
