US agency proposes shooting dead tens of thousands of owls of one kind to save owls of another kind

• The US Fish and Wildlife Service proposes killing thousands of one owl species to preserve another.
• The invasive barred owls are threatening native spotted owls, the agency said.
• The service suggests eliminating 20,000 to 46,000 barred owls in a single year. 

The US Fish and Wildlife Service has a strategy for owl preservation: kill some to safeguard others.

The agency's proposal, which is open for public commentary until early 2024, seeks to preserve the native population of northern spotted owls and California spotted owls. To do that, the agency suggests "lethally removing barred owls" over the course of several years.