A few weeks ago, our newspaper's front page featured a dominating picture of a hunter. You could tell that he was hunter from his camouflaging, I-love-nature, attire and from the weapon that he was holding---about twice the size of your average elephant gun. Then, of course, there were the eponymous vacant eyes---the brain in lonely exile behind them---and the silly, slack-jawed grin; a perfect finishing touch to this iconic poster-boy.
Why am I being so cruel to this poor, "defenseless" chap? Because he is not just any hunter. He is a specialist. A willing and enthusiastic assassin, hired by certain biophobic individuals who pervert the field of endeavor called Wildlife Management (WM) in which they are employed. WM can be broadly defined as humans interacting with animal species with the intent to better the animals' lives. WM works most effectively when the interactions with wildlife are minor, and therefore more manageable, e.g. bird and small mammal rehabilitation centers. Yet, there are examples where major WM interactions have been, at least partially, successful, e.g. protection of larger mammals such as elephants and tigers, and rehabilitation such as the California condor.
As for our hunter friend, the activity in which he is involved is typical of numerous other WM avoidable debacles that, in total, strongly suggest putting the words "wildlife" and "management" together gave birth to one of the great oxymorons of our time. Specifically, he is a co-conspirator in the Case of the Northern Spotted Owl. This cute owl prefers to live its somewhat hermitic life in the forests of the Pacific northwest, down through the Bay Area. It is a threatened species. Its numbers are decreasing alarmingly because of the loss of habitat (88% over the last century) occasioned by human activities such as urbanization, logging, and agriculture. Habitat loss has been thoroughly documented as the principal cause of declining U.S. wildlife populations in hundreds of diverse case studies.
The mostly futile attempts by WM purists to stabilize the spotted owl's imperiled situation were rudely interrupted by the appearance of a new avian character on the scene. Enter, stage right, the barred owl---an almost identical (slightly larger) twin of the spotted owl. This bird used to be indigenous to the eastern half of the United States. However, as Americans began to settle the western half of the nation in greater numbers, the barred owl surfed along on the human tide. This feathered fellow-traveler was able to migrate with relative ease because a) its temperament allows it to be relatively habituated toward humans (its spotted counterpart is more retiring), and b) its diet is notably ubiquitous (unlike the spotted owl, who is a real picky eater---which can limit its geographical range).
Although the barred owl's materialization threw an inconvenient wrench into WM efforts, it also came as a huge relief by providing a convenient villain upon whom the purists could heap blame for the spotted owl's dilemma. Thus, while the barred owl thrives in its new environment (for reasons a) and b) above), the spotted owl continues to struggle because the true root causes of its decline are still devastatingly alive and well. This deliberately deviant misrepresentation of the facts allowed certain WM purists to invoke the flight-of-fancy non-Law of Non-native Species. Although imaginary, it runs along the following generic lines: Whenever a non-native species (defined in any way you want in order to fit your case) enters a native habitat (defined by the same rule as "non-native species"), it is incumbent upon authorities (same definitional rule as before) to remove the non-native by any and all possible means (same rule) because of the unfair and unnatural competition for resources forced on the native species (no statistical proof or hard evidence is required).
The practical consequence of this incantation is that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has set up a four-year pilot experiment to kill at least 3600 barred owls in order to measure the (positive?) impact on spotted owl numbers. For that, the USFW needed a cadre of mindlessly indifferent, paid assassins; hence, our poster-boy! If anyone thought that this egregious exercise is "hunting," then the accompanying story in the newspaper soon put that concept to rest by describing in detail one such genocidic episode of our boy in action. The barred owl victim is innocently snuggling down on a branch to nap. The assassin takes careful aim, and....BLAM. The owl's living body simply evaporates into a featureless mushroom cloud of feathers. Problem solved.
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Post-script: It turns out that spotted and barred owls are not just visually alike, but genetically so as well---to the extent that they are reported to be interbreeding. What an excruciating irony! Because hybridization is likely to be the only practical way to preserve the spotted owl gene pool in the wild. Yet here is the deviant faction of WM, massacring the barred owl potential moms and dads. Simultaneously, the spotted owl population continues to decline. So, metaphorically speaking, mankind is managing to kill off two birds with one stone. Brilliant!
