Pair will be captured to join 10 others in captive-breeding program, leaving only four known to exist in the wild

And then there were six.

That's the total number of endangered northern spotted owls known to exist in the wild in B.C. following the death of a female last winter.

Provincial biologists plan soon to capture two of the remaining six, both single males, and match them with two single females at the nonprofit Mountain View Conservation and Breeding Centre in Langley.

Ian Blackburn, spotted owl recovery coordinator for the ministry of environment, said the other four comprise two pairs and will continue to remain in the wild, with any offspring removed for captive breeding.

Biologists have also shot 12 barred owls that represented competition to the remaining spotted owls after relocation efforts did not work.

One barred owl relocated 100 kilometres across three mountain ranges flew back to the spot where it was captured in the Stein Valley, within a year. "We were actually quite surprised by that," Blackburn said in an interview Wednesday.

The goal is to have 30 to 40 captive breeding pairs, and the release of 70 owls into the wild in a decade in southwestern B.C., including the Lillooet, Squamish and Chilliwack areas. The ultimate target is 250 adults in the wild.

A total of 10 spotted owls are in the captive breeding program now, two of which are on nests, raising hopes for more hatchings this spring.

As owls are gradually returned to the wild at the age of one to two years, they will be held temporarily in cages to get them used to their forest environment, and then will continue to be fed for a period after their release.

"We're not just opening up the door and throwing them out as we drive past," Blackburn said.

He noted the goal is to have 340,000 hectares of park and Crown land in southwest B.C. available as spotted owl habitat, 295,000 hectares of it protected from logging and 45,000 hectares where logging can occur, provided it meets certain forest retention targets.

"They represent the best remaining spotted owl habitat," he said.

Joe Foy of the Western Canada Wilderness Committee said the six remaining owls compare shockingly with historic numbers of 500 pairs.

He said it is ironic that several areas in which his organization protested over the years are now set aside for owl habitat, including S & M Creek and Ure Creek.

He gave the province credit for the 340,000 hectares, but said the only way the owls can recover in the wild is to stop old-growth logging and allow more second-growth stands to mature.

"They've taken a half measure," he said.

A female owl is thought to have died last winter in the Billy Goat Creek area near Garibaldi Provincial Park.

A radio transmitter was found on the ground in a pile of feathers, suggesting a predator had killed the owl.

Biologists cannot rule out other spotted owls existing in the wild undiscovered. Last year, a banded female that hadn't been seen since 2002 and was thought to have died reappeared in the Anderson River drainage in the Fraser Canyon.