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To save spotted owls, officials plan to kill a half-million of another owl species

A Northern Spotted Owl flies after a mouse jumping off the end of a stick in the Deschutes National Forest near Camp Sherman, Ore. To save the spotted owl from potential extinction, U.S. wildlife officials are embracing a plan to deploy trained shooters to kill almost a half-million barred owls that are crowding out their smaller cousins.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service strategy is meant to prop up declining spotted owl populations in Oregon, Washington and California by killing barred owls that have encroached into their territory.

(Image credit: Don Ryan)

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