Necropsy Provides New Clue Into Mysterious Deaths of 13 Bald Eagles on Maryland Farm
Source: ABC News
Newly released necropsy results are providing a new clue into the mysterious deaths of 13 eagles found on a farm last month in Federalsburg, Maryland, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
"The results show that these eagles did not die of natural causes, including disease," U.S. Fish and Wildlife public affairs specialist Catherine J. Hibbard told ABC News today in a statement.
The necropsy ruled out diseases such as avian influenza as a cause of the mass death, Hibbard said.
"Our investigation is now focused on human causes and bringing to justice the person(s) responsible for the death of these eagles," she said. "We cannot release further details about the cause of death as such information may compromise the ongoing investigation."
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Read more: http://abcnews.go.com/US/necropsy-clue-mysterious-deaths-13-bald-eagles-maryland/story?id=37554436
= new reply since forum marked as read
despite their reputation as fierce hunters, bald eagles are also scavengers.
I have seen Baldies eating everything from roadkill to days old dead fish on the shoreline.
It is odd that all 13 were found on a single place. I hope Maryland Fish & Game are doing a wider search for other dead birds. It seems near impossible to poison ONLY Bald Eagles without having them in captivity. In the case of poisoning, there should be other dead scavenger birds, like crows.
I also believe they were poisoned, but the poisoning could be accidental by someone excessively abusing rat poison to combat a rodent infestation, corporate (or other) illegal dumping of toxic chemicals, or other causes. That still doesn't answer WHY they were all found in the same place unless the poison was VERYquick acting, in which case, the source should be easy to find.
If humans were involved, they should still be fully prosecuted if they can be found.
[font size=1]photo by bvar22[/font]
I am a huge fan of these magnificent birds, and have been fortunate enough to live on a houseboat in Minnesota near a large population. We could watch them for hours.
That was very educational, but could be gruesome at times.
