Animal welfare groups oppose plan to hunt barred owls

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A letter sent to the Secretary of the Interior expressed opposition to a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service plan to hunt invasive barred owls on the West Coast. It was signed by 164 wildlife welfare organizations.

ABC News reported that the owls are crowding out northern spotted owls in West Coast forests. Barred owls are native to the eastern side of the continent. They are considered an invasive species in the West. 

Per the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the appearance and population growth of barred owls has been connected to the decline of spotted owls.

According to the American Bird Conservancy, spotted owls are currently considered threatened under the Endangered Species Act. 

ABC reported that their arrival also threatens local frog and salamander species. 

The service’s goal is to kill up to 452,000 barred owls. Trained hunters will target them. 

“The agency is stepping onto a killing treadmill that it can never dismount. The two outcomes likely to result from the plan are a massive body count of barred owls and no long-term improvement in the survival prospects of spotted owls,” said Wayne Pacelle, the president of Animal Wellness Action.

Letter of opposition to killing of barred owls

The letter opposing the Fish and Wildlife Service’s plan called it “reckless.” 

“We cannot victimize animals for adapting to human perturbations of the environment, perhaps especially when it comes to the all-encompassing effects of climate change,” read the letter. 

The Fish and Wildlife Service said barred owls likely began expanding west of the Mississippi River in the early 1900s. 

Whether their range expansion was human-aided, natural, or a combination of both is unknown. However, a common theory suggests human settlement caused environmental changes in the boreal forest and Great Plains, aiding in the expansion. 

Range expansion is a natural reaction to environmental alterations, per the letter. Climate change could continue to trigger range expansions. 

Threats to other species

Additionally, the letter argued that unleashing hunters into the forests could lead to unintentional deaths of other species. 

“Every caring person wants to save spotted owls from extinction, but a strategy to kill a half-million look-alike forest owls must be taken off the table as violating our norms about proper treatment of any native owl species in North America,” said Pacelle. 

First, hunters could mistakenly kill other owl species, including the threatened spotted owl that the plan aims to protect.

Both species live in dense evergreen forests, which are not ideal hunting locations. Per the letter, bird hunting often occurs in marshes or near lakes and oceans.

Duck hunters often report wrong species kills, even if they have a clear view of the species. Dense forest conditions, coupled with nighttime lighting situations, further complicate a hunter’s goal to kill the right owl. 

Secondly, the letter argues that lead dispersal could kill other wildlife. While the Fish and Wildlife Services announced a voluntary lead-free ammunition incentive program, the letter alleged that it has “repeatedly refused to act to remediate its detrimental and wide-ranging effects.” 

According to the National Park Service, lead bullets are dangerous to animals that unknowingly ingest them. Small fragments can remain in a carcass that is left behind by a hunter, later being ingested by an animal that eats the meat. 

Lead dispersal from hunting the barred owls could potentially kill other wildlife. 

Area is “too vast” for the plan to work

Finally, the letter argued that the control area is too large for the Fish and Wildlife Service’s plan to be effective. 

“The control area of 24 million acres is too vast, and even when birds are killed, survivors will quickly reclaim nesting sites and social competition between owl communities will continue,” said Pacelle. 

A press release said that Animal Wellness Action and the Center for a Humane Economy “promised to sue to halt the scheme in federal court.” 

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