This first-world country will soon be culling 450,000 owls. Here's why

Owls seem to have become friends as well as foes of the people of the United States who are trying to kill one species of this bird to save the other one from extinction.

The US wildlife officials have devised a plan for killing almost half a million barred owls so as to save the endangered spotted owls.

As reported by the Associated Press, the US Fish and Wildlife Service'sstrategy is aimed at stopping the decline of the spotted owl populations in Oregon, Washington state and California.

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The agency's documents lay out the plan which involves the killing of nearly 450,000 barred owls over a period of three decades.

For a long time, the spotted owls have been struggling for survival and adaptation, whilethe barred owls have entered the West Coast territory from the eastern United States and are now pushing themtowards extinctionbecause of the dearth of resources.

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Fish and Wildlife Service Oregon state supervisor Kessina Lee stressed the gravity of the situation. “Without actively managing barred owls, northern spotted owls will likely go extinct in all or the majority of their range, despite decades of collaborative conservation efforts,” said Lee," as reported by Earth.com.

Experts have made previous attempts to safeguard the spotted owlsbypreserving their native forests.These steps were intensely discussed and curbed the decline of the owls to an extent.

However, the efforts were countered by a significant increase in the number of barred owls.

Wildlife advocates protest against killing of owls

The earlier government had also adopted methods for protecting West Coast salmon and warblers which included the elimination of their predators.

Now, a lot of wildlife advocates have been against the killing of barred owls to save the other species.

The experts say that this step is not in accordance with sustainable conservation strategies.

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Founder of Animal Wellness Action advocacy group Wayne Pacelle expressed strong disapproval of the killing of the owl.

“The Fish and Wildlife Service is turning from protector of wildlife to persecutor of wildlife,” Pacelle said.

According to him, the programme will fail once more barred owls will migrate into areas where others have been killed.

The mass killing of barred owls is scheduled to commence next spring, amid all the criticism.

(With inputs from agencies)