3rd Eagle Shot, Reward Up to $7,500

This sub-adult bald eagle, with its right wing mangled and its right eye blinded by gunshots, succumbed to its injuries and had to be euthanized. Photo credit: Will Bowlin, Conservation Officer, Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks.

GRENADA – The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks (MDWFP) are investigating yet another bald eagle shooting – this one occurred in Union County, Mississippi.

A total reward of up to $7,500 is being offered by – the Humane Society of the United States and the Humane Society Wildlife Land Trust providing $5,000, and the USFWS giving $2,500 – for information that leads to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for the shooting.

The Union County bald eagle was discovered on Owen Road and Tanglefoot Trail in New Albany, Mississippi. The investigation revealed the eagle was shot sometime from January 1 – 18, 2013. Due to its injuries, the eagle could not have flown very far from where it was shot. The Union County eagle had to be euthanized due to its severe injuries from multiple shot shell pellet wounds to its wings, leg, and eye.

Another eagle, which was shot in Neshoba County, also had to be euthanized. It was found on the Nanih Waiya Wildlife Management Area and was likely gunned down in early December, 2012. A third bald eagle, shot in Stone County near Wiggins in mid-January, 2013, survived and is currently in rehab. Investigations are ongoing in these two cases as well; and rewards are still being offered for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the shooter(s).

Bald eagles are protected by the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, both federal and state wildlife statutes. Violations of these statutes carry maximum criminal penalties of up to $100,000 and/or one year in federal prison.

Anyone with information concerning any of these three American bald eagles should contact the: USFWS’s Grenada Office of Law Enforcement at 662-227-0990, USFWS’s Jackson Office of Law Enforcement at 601-965-4699, or MDWFP Law Enforcement Bureau at 601-432-2074.