The Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is looking for the person or persons responsible for shooting two bald eagles in Webster County.
“People around here are outraged,” said Bill Spece, state conservation officer with the Iowa DNR. “Both eagles were shot with a similar caliber firearm and left for dead so it is possible that these cases are related.”
Spece said the first bald eagle was an immature bird found two weeks ago by a person hunting shed deer antlers in the Boone Forks Wildlife Area, in southeast Webster County. The second bald eagle was a mature bird found Saturday near the sewage lagoons at Lehigh. The eagle was alive, but died shortly after being transported to a wildlife rehabilitator. It had been shot twice.
The eagles were found within 10 miles of each other.
“We don’t have much to go on so we are asking for the public’s help to find those responsible,” Spece said.
He said people with information on the case can use the Turn in Poachers (TIP) website at www.iowadnr.gov/tip, call the TIP hotline at 1-800-532-2020 or call him directly at 515-571-0127. Information can be left anonymously.
Bald eagles are a state and federally protected species.