Shooting owls is rarely a typical part of the conservation toolbox; however, California's northern forests’ biologists have been doing just that.

Lowell Diller, a biologist working with Jack Dumbacher, curator of the California Academy of Sciences Department of Ornithology and Mammalogy, has been mapping parts of the forest where both owl species live. They have been given permission by the US Fish and Wildlife Service. In some regions, Diller drew in and shot the banned owls; but others he left alone.

Soon, biologists associated with the project are going to publish their study in the Journal of Wildlife Management and Wildlife Monographs. While speaking to Natalie Jacewicz of the San Jose Mercury News, they said the findings were clear that by taking lives of some owls they can help other owls recover.

Dr. Diller said his motive is to make this study inform conservation policy going forward. But he also said that he has mixed feelings regarding the implications.

Diller told the San Jose Mercury News that the moment he would be done with it, he is going to need a lot of therapy.

The reason of killing them is complicated. The banned owl is a bigger, and it appears more aggressive bird species, and belongs to the Eastern United States. The banned owl has migrated from the East, via Canada, and down in the northern California.

The banned owls are technically invasive, and the endangered species Northern Spotted Owl is a controversial one at that. Post years of fights with lumber companies that were willing to keep the habitat of the owl open for logging, the conservationists are can’t stand losing the spotted owl to a massive bird.

Diller asked the San Jose Mercury News, “Can you imagine letting something like that go extinct? It's really not acceptable”.