Canada's Down To One Breeding Pair Of Spotted Owls In The Wild, So BC Now Making Green Noises
There are only three known northern spotted owls left in the wild in Canada, including just one breeding pair. Their chicks have on occasion been taken for a captive breeding program, to try and boost the species’ prospects.
Now Canada and British Columbia have announced a more full-throated response to the potential extinction of the owl within the country’s borders. In tandem with the breeding scheme, the province will enforce a one-year halt to logging in the few remaining old-growth forests that the owl favors, until more permanent protections can be instituted.
EDIT
The northern spotted owl’s territory stretches from old growth forests in southern British Columbia, through Washington, Oregon and into northern California. In the US, northern spotted owls are also listed as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act. In British Columbia, conservation groups estimate there were once up to 500 breeding pairs of the bird in the wild, but they say since the introduction of industrial logging and increased competition for habitat, those numbers have plummeted.
A statement from British Columbia’s ministry of environment added that the new agreement will build on existing plans to protect the spotted owl, and is part of a wider commitment to protect 25% of Canada’s lands and waters by 2025.
EDIT
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/apr/16/canada-last-three-spotted-owls
