Killing 60,000 to 100,000 barred owls across a portion of the West would permit the spotted owl population to rise to about 8,400, officials say.

In a recent post to the Ohio Division of Wildlife Facebook page, officials shared a picture of a young barred owl they said was recently spotted in a central Ohio backyard where several more owls were ...

Officials said northern spotted owl populations in the northern half of the species’ range ‒ where barred owls have moved in most aggressively ‒ have dropped by more than 75% in 20 years.

In Oregon between 1995 and 2017, spotted owl populations in high density owl territory declined by up to 75%. In Washington, some spotted owl territories saw population declines of up to 80% ...

It's part of an effort to save their smaller, threatened cousin, the northern spotted owl. The federal government finalized the plan over the summer after years of discussion.

Stripes, round bodies, dark penetrating eyes. At a glance, the barred owl and the northern spotted owl are easily mistaken for the same bird.

But doesn't it sound morally wrong to attempt to save one species by genociding others? In order to save spotted owls, the federal government plans to kill 500,000 other owls.

If the spotted owl sounds familiar, it's probably because this problem was Supposed to have been solved already — back in the 1990s.

FILE - Barred owls from the east have moved in and taken over spotted owl habitat in the western forests of Oregon, and are now pushing spotted owls closer and closer to extinction. Nick Fisher ...

The documents reveal that the agency aims to remove around 450,000 barred owls, including barred-spotted owl hybrids, over a 30-year period.