An American plan to kill 450,000 owls

ArabiaWeather - The US Fish and Wildlife Service has developed a plan to kill 450,000 owls coming from abroad with the aim of saving local species of owls that are threatened with extinction, according to the Washington Post.

The newspaper described this plan as controversial, while the authority indicated that it may be the only way to save the spotted owl, whose population has witnessed a significant decline in recent decades. Due to competition for food and shelter with owl species coming from abroad.

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Protecting local species of owls from extinction

The plan has divided wildlife advocates, with some accusing the agency of recklessness, while others argue that massive hunting of these species from abroad is necessary to protect endangered native species.

Robin Bown, a biologist at the Fish and Wildlife Service, explained that agreeing on the plan was not easy, stressing that the agency has a legal responsibility to do everything in its power to preserve the endangered local owl. He pointed out that some areas where about 200 spotted owls lived in the early 2000s now contain only two or three of this species.

Bown added that people trained in the use of firearms will roam the forests at night carrying rifles, flashlights and megaphones, shooting owls coming from outside. He explained that shooters must recognize owls by the striped spots in their brown and white feathers and also by their voice, and then they shoot them.

He stressed that the owls' corpses could be buried at the site or used for scientific research. The authority added that shooters must submit documents proving their training and experience in identifying owls and using firearms to hunt them.

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Sources:

Washington Post newspaper