HOMER - While bald eagles have been removed from the endangered species list, killing one remains a violation of state and federal law.
That's why a reward is offered for information leading to the arrest of the person responsible for shooting a juvenile bald eagle found on Wynn Lake Road in Banks County Aug. 7.
DNR Law Enforcement Cpl. Adam Loudermilk said the cause of death for the young bird was a gunshot.
"It was deceased when we located it, and we weren't quite sure why," Loudermilk said. "We sent it off to the University of Georgia to run some tests - toxicology, things like that - to see if we could figure out the cause of death. Obviously it's a young bird so the age part was ruled out as a factor. We wanted to determine did it get in poison or did it get shot or what the problem was."
The cause of death was determined to be from a penetrating wound, believed to be a gunshot.
Loudermilk says there is no way to know for sure if the bird is from the immediate area where it was shot.
Anyone with information about the person(s) responsible for the death of the bald eagle is asked to call the Ranger Hotline at (800) 241-4113.
