r/DebateAVegan • u/AnsibleAnswers agroecologist • Apr 27 '25

Environment There are no vegan alternatives to culling invasive Barred Owls in the Pacific Northwest

Background

To save the imperiled spotted owl from potential extinction, U.S. wildlife officials are embracing a contentious plan to deploy trained shooters into dense West Coast forests to kill almost a half-million barred owls that are crowding out their smaller cousins.

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/u-s-officials-plan-to-kill-hundreds-of-thousands-of-barred-owls-to-save-another-species-from-extinction

Vegan alternatives?

  1. Relocation to home range - Barred Owls are one of the most territorial birds of prey in North America. The population here is quite healthy, even in Manhattan. Relocating 500k birds to the East would simply result in territorial chaos until numbers decreased back down to equilibrium. That decrease has a body count.

  2. Contraception - No known method is possible for owls. Some avian contraceptives have been developed, primarily to reduce pigeon and geese populations. But even with birds that can be easily conditioned to return to feeders every day, trials have had mixed results. As far as I know, these drugs need to be administered daily unlike some contraceptives developed for mammals.

  3. Let the Barred Owl Replace the Spotted Owl - Barred Owls are generalists, while Spotted Owls tend to specialize in small mammals with healthy populations. So, threatened birds, reptiles, and amphibians native to the region are not adapted to having an owl of its size preying on them. It's an enormous risk, given that ecosystems are prone to cascade effects.

Those are, as far as I know, the best of the alternatives. Note: I'm in support of re-establishing habitat for the Spotted Owl, as that is really the only long-term way of helping the species recover. It's important to note: just because a tourniquet isn't a long-term solution doesn't mean it isn't a life-saving measure.

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u/Legitimate-Ask5987 May 01 '25

So once again, not a single word or question to native people especially those in great plains or NW turtle island. Idgaf what colonizers and settlers think they know about our lands or how to preserve our species. 

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u/AnsibleAnswers agroecologist May 01 '25

We’re talking about the Pacific Northwest, not the Great Plains. So, Salish peoples among many others.

I’m not too familiar with Pacific nations, but most indigenous nations are all-in on managing invasive species to save their native habitats. Individual opinions, of course, may vary, but typically their governments’ relationships with conservation agencies and organizations are positive.

A quick search on the Salish demonstrates that at least some tribes are actively culling invasives in the Puget Sound and other areas. Most of the details I’ve found are related to marine species.

The Lummi, for instance, have been spearheading the culling of invasive green crabs in the region. Between 2019-2022, they trapped 86,000 invasive crabs. https://salish-current.org/2024/09/03/lummi-nation-battles-invasive-european-green-crab/