 Is it justifiable to kill one animal species to save another? A question worth answering, though some U.S. wildlife officials seem to be embracing a plan that would call for trained shooters to kill nearly half a million barred owls as part of an effort to help protect spotted owls which are being crowded out of their habitats in the eastern U.S. Past efforts to save the owls are focused on protecting the forests where they live. However, officials say the proliferation of barred owls in recent years has undermined their earlier work.