At least 13 bald eagles were likely poisoned by eating the remains of euthanized animals improperly dumped at a Minnesota landfill. Three of the bald eagles have since died.
According to the Minnesota Raptor Center, on December 4th, the Inver Grove Heights Police Department brought in a sick juvenile bald eagle that they had found in the snow. Veterinarians determined the eagle had been suffering from pentobarbital poisoning, the primary agent used to euthanize animals.
The following day, another bald eagle was found suffering in the same area as the landfill in Inver Grove Heights where the first eagle was found. Since then, 13 bald eagles have displayed similar clinical signs. It has since been confirmed that the remains of animals that had been euthanized with chemicals, had been brought to the landfill that Friday, and the eagles had been in the area scavenging.
When the birds were found, some had been lying motionless with their faces in the snow. Workers weren’t even sure if the eagles were still alive.
Ten birds remain in intensive care at the center, and their caretakers are optimistic about their recovery.
Animals euthanized with chemicals are supposed to be disposed of so that scavengers can not get to them.
In the United States, when the bald eagle was declared the national bird in 1782, it was estimated 100,000 nesting eagles thrived. According to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, threats such as hunting, habitat loss and pesticide use, specifically DDT, nearly wiped out the population.
When DDT was rampant in use in the mid-1900s, populations of birds at the top of the food chain declined dramatically. It’s really important that these birds were able to tell us that story.”
Margaret Fowle, conservation biologist for Vermont Audubon
State and federal officials are now inveestigating.
This heartbreaking incident is yet another example of how critical it is for humans to be mindful of what we are putting into the environment. We are all connected, and sometimes our actions can have unintended and devastating consequences.
Raptor Center
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