The BC Government has evidently passed a motion to cull Barred Owls to save a rapidly dwindling population of Spotted Owls. B.C. culling barred owls to save the endangered spotted owl - The Canadian Environment Blog article. The question being "Do we have the right to cull or shall we say "exterminate" a certain species to restore population numbers to a second species or is there an alternative way that we can ensure the populations of both species? However it's not surprising that the BC Government has taken the easy route, yet again.
The arrival of Barred Owls in BC was, in part, due to human forestry practices. We created this mess, and we should do something to fix it. That being said, killing Barred Owls will hardly help the two remaining adult Spotted Owls known to be in BC. Both of which are well past their prime. The only way to restore the population is to import American Spotted Owls, and changing forestry practices.
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