Government plans on killing owls to save other owls

[Shaul]

The Federal government is planning for hunters to eliminate thousands of barred owls to protect the endangered spotted owls. Animal rights groups are protesting this.

The federal government plans to kill half a million West Coast owls

 

[Twilight Hue]

The Federal government is planning for hunters to eliminate thousands of barred owls to protect the endangered spotted owls. Animal rights groups are protesting this.

The federal government plans to kill half a million West Coast owls

Typical hypocrisy.

It's largely illegal to hunt owls, but the government wants to kill millions of them and throw these magnificent birds in the garbage. The meat while edible, typically dosent taste good and there is little meat on the birds.

 

[John53]

I've been indirectly involved in something similar in my neck of the woods. Noisy Miners which are a very common and aggressive native bird were killed to try and allow critically endangered Regent Honeyeaters (only about 400 left in the wild) a chance to breed. It was somewhat of a success but was only conducted on a few hundred acres of private land.

I don't think letting anyone have a go at owls they may not be able to identify accurately is a good idea.

 

[libre]

The objections in the letter seem well thought out objections regarding wildlife protection and long-term consequences of this decision rather than a shortsighted moralist objection to conservation efforts. What do you find hypocritical about their objections?

Some points that stuck out to me copied from the original letter:

• Even with a clean look at the species, mistaken identity kills are common among duck
  hunters. It is practically impossible to conduct “hunts” for nocturnal birds of prey in heavily
  forested vertical ecosystems who are not in flight.
• Lead dispersal from gunfire will kill thousands of eagles, hawks, owls, and other wildlife
• The timber industry financed the “studies” and fieldwork that are the impetus for this owl-killing
  plan as an attempt to distract from the industry’s continued destruction of spotted owl habitats.