VALLEY PARK, Mo. (AP) — A bald eagle is slowly recovering after surgery in Missouri, the victim of a shooting that experts say is far too common for the U.S. national bird and other birds of prey.
The male eagle was found injured in central Missouri on July 11. A World Bird Sanctuary volunteer picked him up and brought the 7-pound adult back to the sanctuary in suburban St. Louis.
Roger Holloway, director of the sanctuary, said the eagle’s upper beak was nearly split in two by the bullet. It also had an injured left wing and suffered from lead poisoning.
The eagle, numbered 24-390 because it is the 390th injured bird treated at the sanctuary this year, has undergone three surgeries. Holloway said last week that surgery was intended to further repair the severely damaged beak – a serious injury that would be life-threatening if not healed.
The good news: Suture sites from previous surgeries are healing well, as are jaw fractures caused by the force of the bullet, Holloway said. The next procedure is likely to take place in early September.
But even if all goes well, No. 24-390 will need care for months, perhaps even a year, before it can potentially be released back into the wild.
“We are cautiously optimistic that he is otherwise healthy and has gained weight, is processing food well, and is becoming more feisty and less cooperative, which we really like,” Holloway said. “Because the bird is wild and has strength, and that’s what it needs to grow the beak back to its functional size and length.”
No. 24-390 is one of six birds of prey treated for gunshot wounds at the World Bird Sanctuary this summer. About 600 birds are treated there every year, most of which are injured in various types of collisions.
Holloway and other experts say they are seeing an increase in shooting injuries to the majestic birds, which have served as the national symbol of the United States for nearly two and a half centuries. Both bald and golden eagles are widely considered sacred by Native Americans.
U.S. law prohibits anyone without a permit from killing, injuring, or disturbing eagles or stealing their nests or eggs. Even take feathers found in the wild can be a crime.
In the late 19th century, America was home to approximately 100,000 nesting bald eagles. Habitat destruction and hunting left the birds nearly extinct, prompting Congress to pass the Bald Eagle Protection Act in 1940, which made it illegal to own, kill or sell bald eagles.
Pesticides continued to kill bald eagles, and by 1960 only about 400 breeding pairs remained. The bald eagle was placed on the endangered species list in 1978.
Federal protection and regulation of pesticides containing DDT sparked a comeback. In 1995, the bald eagle’s status was changed from endangered to threatened, and in 2007 it was removed from the endangered list.
Eighteen years ago, Missouri had 123 confirmed bald eagle nests, said Janet Haslerig, avian ecologist for the Missouri Department of Conservation. Today there are 609.
But as the population has grown nationally, so have the number of shootings.
“It’s becoming a trend and very disturbing,” Haslerig said.
In March, a Washington state man was charged with aiding and abetting kill thousands of birds pleaded guilty in federal court to shooting eagles on a Native American reservation in Montana and sell their feathers and body parts on the black market.
Many other shootings are due to a combination of “ignorance and boredom,” Holloway said.
“Sometimes it’s just like, ‘I have a gun. There is a target,” he said. “They don’t understand the laws and regulations. They don’t understand that they are committing a crime.
“This is just random shooting by irresponsible individuals.”