Tag: extinction

Spotted Owl

Give A Hoot—Shoot? The Controversial Plan to Save Northern Spotted Owls from Extinction

May 5, 2024

Many human cultures have considered owls omens of death, so it’s perversely fitting that we are now arbiters of their doom. After driving one owl species toward extinction, we propose to save it by killing half a million members of another. How did we end up in this conundrum of ecological ethics? How The Spotted … More Give A Hoot—Shoot? The Controversial Plan to Save Northern Spotted Owls from Extinction

Franz Marc's 1913 painting "The Fate of the Animals", an expressionist work that depicts animals fleeing from an apocalyptic event.

The Fate of the Animals: The Art of Habitat Conservation

November 22, 2023

Red leaves, but no red cardinals. Blue sky, but no blue jays. “Maybe I shouldn’t have bothered packing my camera,” I grumbled to the autumn leaves overhead. Back in my hometown for a visit, I’d hoped to photograph favorite childhood birds, but some species seemed sparser than I remembered. New construction had further reduced their … More The Fate of the Animals: The Art of Habitat Conservation