A federal plan to shoot nearly half a million owls across three US states is moving forward, and animal rights lawyers say the killing has already started.
The US Fish and Wildlife Service finalised its Barred Owl Management Strategy in August 2024, authorising the lethal removal of up to 450,000 barred owls across Washington, Oregon and California over 30 years. The plan is designed to protect the northern spotted owl, a threatened species whose population has fallen by up to 75 percent over the past two decades as a result of relentless competition from the barred owl.
