BLACKDUCK, Minn. — Agents from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and federal wildlife officials are trying to identify the person responsible after the discovery of two dead bald eagles who appear to have been shot.
DNR enforcement agent Joe Alberts says the agency was tipped off to the incident by an anonymous message left on the non-game wildlife phone line on or around April 23. Field agent Demo Regas responded to a remote area not far from Blackduck and located the dead eagles on the banks of the Blackduck River.
The raptors were sent off to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife forensics lab in Oregon for a necropsy, the animal equivalent of a human autopsy, to discover the official cause of death. U.S. Fish and Wildlife spokesperson Tina Shaw says scientists determined the eagles were shot.
Albert says a joint investigation between the DNR and federal wildlife agents is ongoing. Bald eagles and other raptors are fully protected by federal law. The maximum penalty for the unlawful take or possession of a bald eagle, or bald eagle parts under the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act is one year imprisonment and/or a $100,000 fine.
A $2,500 reward is offered for any information that leads to an arrest or conviction of the person responsible, as bald eagles are a federally protected species. Anyone who knows something is asked to call the Turn In Poachers (TIP) line at 800-652-9093.
