Wisconsin DNR investigating shooting of bald eagle in Racine County

The Wisconsin Division of Pure Assets is investigating the capturing of a bald eagle in Racine County. As a result of severity of its accidents, the chicken needed to be euthanized on Monday. 

One other bald eagle was shot earlier this yr in Washington County. Although they’re a protected species and capturing the birds is against the law, Sharon Fandel, southeast discipline ecologist with the DNR, stated the killings gained’t have a big impression on the bald eagle inhabitants in southeastern Wisconsin. 

“From an total inhabitants standpoint, Wisconsin is a reasonably rock stable place for eagles,” Fandel stated. 

A decade in the past, it could have been extraordinarily uncommon to see a bald eagle within the southeast a part of the state. However because the species rebounded, the birds started shifting into the area.

Nests in Milwaukee, Walworth and Kenosha counties have solely been found throughout the previous 5 years. Whereas bald eagles are extra regularly seen within the northern a part of the state, Fandel stated there are at the very least 4 nests in Racine County the place the eagle was lately shot. 

Earlier this yr, the DNR confirmed bald eagles at the moment are nesting once more in all 72 Wisconsin counties — possible for the primary time because the Eighties. 

The newest capturing was found when the DNR obtained a tip on July 17 from a passerby who noticed the chicken and thought it is likely to be injured. Conservation Warden Brandon Smith positioned the chicken and introduced it to Fellow Mortals Wildlife Hospital in Lake Geneva.

The eagle had been shot twice and likewise appeared to have lure accidents on its foot and leg. 

Yvonne Wallace Blane is co-founder and director of rehabilitation at Fellow Mortals. She stated they soaked the chicken’s foot, put ointment on its accidents and gave it anti-inflammatory medicine for ache.

As soon as the eagle’s bruises began to heal, rehabilitators might see its foot was dying. Wallace Blane stated this meant they wouldn’t have the ability to save the chicken as a result of eagles want each ft to outlive.  

It was as if the chicken knew its life was over, she stated, as a result of it stopped consuming. Simply days earlier than the bald eagle died, a red-tailed hawk present in Walworth County was shot, too.

“I believe we…are beginning to see an issue in southeastern Wisconsin that we have to tackle earlier than it will get worse,” Wallace Blane stated. 

Fellow Mortals has taken care of 5 bald eagles already this yr. Wallace Blane stated a few of them had been hit by automobiles and considered one of them had signs of avian influenza. However the capturing and trapping of those birds is just not one thing she usually sees.

Raptors are protected beneath the Migratory Chicken Treaty Act and bald eagles have extra safety beneath the Bald and Golden Eagle Safety Act.

Wallace Blane stated southeastern Wisconsin residents ought to be educated about these legal guidelines and the essential function raptors play in controlling different animal populations as predators.

Smith, who discovered the Racine County bald eagle, stated individuals in Wisconsin often mistake a chicken for one thing they’re legally looking. Nonetheless, that is the primary time he’s encountered a bald eagle that’s been shot. 

“That’s definitely somewhat extra distinctive and one thing that’s somewhat bit tougher to grasp,” Smith stated.

After the Racine County bald eagle was euthanized, Smith took the chicken’s physique into proof, as part of the continued investigation into who shot it. With these investigations, Smith stated they rely on whether or not individuals come ahead with details about the incident.

Anybody with details about the capturing of the bald eagle can anonymously name or textual content the DNR’s tip hotline at 1-800-847-9367.