This is what Westerners call a "barred" owl:
This is what Westerners call a "spotted" owl:
This is Western civilization:
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-13249911/kill-half-million-invasive-owls-save-similar-species.htmlAt least 500,0000 invasive barred owls' lives are at stake for encroaching on the endangered California spotted owl's territory.
The US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) plans to unleash 'hunters' in California, Oregon and Washington to kill about half a million nocturnal birds that are native to the eastern US.
Under the proposal, hunters would broadcast barred owl territorial calls to attract owls and shoot on sight, but in areas where firearm use is inadvisable, the protocol would be to capture and euthanize the creature.
Even the Westerners against the idea are only worried that some "spotted" owls might be killed along with the "barred" owls:
outrage among 75 groups that claim its actions could disrupt the wildlife and cause 'mistaken-identity kills.'
It is Westerners' fault that "barred" owls are gathered here in the first place:
Barred owls started migrating to the forests of Washington, Oregon and Northern California from their native region in the northeastern US in the early 1900s due to climate change and deforestation.
but "barred" owls are not an "endangered species", therefore their lives do not matter:
In 1990, the spotted owl was added to the Endangered Species Act because of habitat loss, but now the migration of the barred owl over the past century has allegedly worsened the situation.
Of course, the "spotted" owls only became an "endangered species" due also to the actions of Westerners:
in the late 1980s and 1990s when environmentalists fought loggers who were trying to harvest timber in the Northwest forests - the conflict became known as the Timber Wars.
During this time, the spotted owl which lived in the old trees, started dwindling and led to protections for the bird and its habitat.
So now Westerners think (as always) that the solution to problems caused by Western civilization is more Western civilization:
the FWS published its 264-page proposal in November, saying that culling the barred owls was essential to protecting the endangered spotted owl.
...
the release said that the purpose of culling so many owls is to eliminate their future expansion and range and reduce any populations that might become established in the years to come.
'Competition from the invasive barred owl is a primary cause of the rapid and ongoing decline of northern spotted owl populations,' the release said.
'Due to the rapidity of the decline, it is critical that we manage invasive barred owl populations to reduce their negative effect before northern spotted owls are extirpated from large portions of their native range,' it added.
But somehow Westerners never classify themselves as "invasive".....