Canada’s national newspaper of record, The Globe and Mail, has a nice article about the experimental removal of barred owls in the hope that this will prove of benefit to endangered spotted owls — US Owl Hunt Could Save Species from Extinction. The article ends with a short discussions of the ethical issues we addressed in the ethics review process.

Unfortunately, the title might suggest to some readers that the experiment is a general hunt. It is no such thing, but rather a limited if controversial killing of Barred Owls by sharpshooters. It is not open to the public.

Image: Tools used to collect barred owls, Lowell Diller.