Hope remains for owl species despite no known wild population left in B.C., conservationist says

B.C. facility breeding northern spotted owls in captivity in hopes of returning species to wild

From CBC

Whether any wild northern spotted owls are still surviving in B.C. is unknown. The last recorded sighting of one was in 2023, following decades of catastrophic population decline.

Spuzzum First Nation Chief Janice Kuester says the loss is deeply upsetting.

"They are our knowledge keepers and our ancestors, and so we look to them for wisdom and guidance. So they're very significant to our community."

Since 2022, the nation has partnered with the province to aid in the conservation and recovery of the owls.

The species' habitat stretches across the Lower Mainland and extends downwards through Washington state, Oregon and northern California. While there are still thousands of the owls in the U.S., Canada’s population is now almost non-existent.

"I think we can say that we no longer have any spotted owls that have lived their entire life cycle in the old growth forest," said Joe Foy, a campaigner with non-profit group the Wilderness Committee. "That's it, basically the end of the wild spotted owl."

But that doesn’t mean there’s no hope.

Biologist and ecological consultant Jared Hobbs says re-establishing the species in B.C. is possible, "but we have to stop eroding the recovery options."

He says that as long as there is habitat available and reproducing owls, the species still stands a chance.

An effort to have an emergency order issued for the owls failed in 2023 when the federal cabinet voted down a recommendation from then-environment minister Steven Guilbeault — who a judge ruled had illegally delayed that recommendation by eight months.

Instead, the government said it was committed to collaborating with B.C. and Indigenous communities, in part through an ongoing federal recovery strategy. That plan identifies logging and species competition as the two main threats facing the owls, and sets a goal of restoring a stable population of 250 of the birds.

A baby chick born at the Northern Spotted Owl Breeding Centre in Langley, B.C. (Northern Spotted Owl Breeding Program)

Part of that goal involves introducing captive-bred spotted owls back into the wild.

In B.C., the Northern Spotted Owl Breeding Program has roughly 40 spotted owls, and is working to breed and release more.

Science journalist Nicola Jones worked with the facility located in Langley to tell the species’ recovery story in a children’s book.

"No one had tried to breed these owls before … they had these amazing stories about having to hand-rear these little chicks that had fallen ill or been injured, and they had to invent new protocols for medicine, or create little foot braces out of paper clips," she said.

The facility first released spotted owls into the wild in 2022, and has been regularly releasing the birds since.

Their success has been mixed, with several of the birds found dead after release.

Because the program is still relatively new, Foy says it is still developing its approach.

"It is an act of desperation and we have to hope like heck that it works because … the only other hope would be owls coming back from the States."

Foy says spotted owls could move into Canada from the U.S., but only if B.C. maintains and restores enough suitable forests for them to live in.

The owls rely on old growth forests, a landscape that has been heavily affected by logging.

Through recent amendments to its species recovery plan, the federal government has identified over 4,000 square kilometers of critical habitat in B.C. needed to protect the species. Conservationists say identifying the area is the first step toward preventing harmful activities on it.

Foy emphasized that repairing fragmented forests that have already been logged is also crucial.

He says he witnessed first hand the struggles wild spotted owls used to face when he was tracking them in the wild.

"[Juvenile spotted owls] were running into second growth forests, which are far too dense.… They were running into clear cuts where they were standing out for predators who were picking them off."

The second major threat spotted owls face is competition from another species — the barred owl. The two contend for food and habitat, and the more territorial barred owls usually win.

In the United States, a plan passed in 2024 to cull over 350,000 barred owls over 30 years to help recover the spotted owls.

A barred owl is seen near Flamingo, Fla., on Oct. 21, 2019. The species competes with the northern spotted owls for food and territory.

While Canada has previously culled or relocated barred owls from spotted owl habitat, no plans to the same scale have been implemented.

Jones says the spotted owls’ story of struggle is not uncommon.

"Humanity really is driving a lot of species to extinction right now, from charismatic animals down through bacteria."

But to Jones, the spotted owl is different. She says the work being done by the captive breeding facility, as well as the involvement of First Nations, makes their story inspiring.

"It's so rare these days in the world of climate change and the environment to find stories of hope about endangered species."