Death of 13 Bald Eagles in Maryland Prompts an Investigation.
'The authorities are investigating the largest die-off of bald eagles in Maryland in three decades after 13 carcasses were found on the state’s Eastern Shore.
The dead birds of prey were found on Saturday by a man looking for deer antlers, according to Candy Thomson, a spokeswoman for the Maryland Natural Resources Police. The remains, which had no visible signs of trauma, were scattered on farmland in Federalsburg, an area near creeks, rivers and protected lands that make it a “perfect place for eagles” to safely live and fish, Ms. Thomson said.
In messages posted to Twitter on Monday, the natural resources police indicated that human actions may have led to the birds’ deaths and offered a $10,000 reward for information leading to a conviction.
Ms. Thomson said wildlife officials would explore the possibility that the birds had died from a poison, but added that nothing would be known until necropsies and X-rays were performed at a United States Fish and Wildlife Services forensics laboratory in Oregon, where the carcasses were shipped on Monday night.
There have been several past cases of farmers on the Eastern Shore accidentally poisoning eagles while trying to kill off foxes, which prey on the chicken farms dotting the area, Catherine Hibbard, a spokeswoman for the fish and wildlife Service, said on Tuesday. Some people have used illegal poisons, she added.
Bald eagles are still protected by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act and the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act. It remains illegal to kill the birds, which can weigh as much as 14 pounds and spread their wings as wide as 8 feet, or to sell their nests and eggs.
Last October, a farmer in New York State was sentenced to six months probation and $4,000 in fines after he was found guilty of poisoning eagles by placing tainted meat in a field to kill coyotes.'>>>
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/24/us/dead-bald-eagles-maryland.html
