Three bald eagles have been killed by interactions with humans in just under a week on Vancouver Island, sparking concerns that someone is deliberately trying to kill the birds.
Four adult eagles have been treated at the Island Veterinary Hospital in Nanaimo, B.C. in the last week – an unusually high number, says Robyn Radcliffe of the Pacific Northwest Raptors rescue group in Duncan.
“We typically see a case or two a year of eagles that are shot, but to see three in seven days is quite alarming. It’s very concerning,” she told CTV Vancouver Island Thursday.
One of the eagles had been shot through the shoulder by a rifle; another was the victim of lead poisoning; and another struck a powerline. All three had to be euthanized.
A fourth eagle was found wandering on the ground on a highway near Nanaimo. When vets examined the bird, they found that it too had been shot.
The eagle underwent a four-hour surgery and is expected to survive and return to the wild, says veterinarian Dr. Ken Langelier, who treated the bird. But he says there have been seven calls related to injured eagles have come in in the last week.
“What’s really concerning is that all of the eagles we are seeing were either maliciously hunted by a human or indirectly affected,” he said.
Bald eagles can live up to 30 years and while they are not endangered in Canada, their population numbers are under threat.
Shooting bald eagles is illegal in Canada and anyone caught doing so faces a hefty fine and suspension of their hunting licence.
While most hunters know the rules, experts say few know that eagles can get lead poisoning by eating discarded hunting carcasses. The eagles can be poisoned when they ingest lead shot or bullet fragments left behind in the carcasses.
Conservation officers are now investigating the shootings to try to find the person or persons responsible for trying to kill the majestic birds.
With a report from CTV Vancouver Island’s Chandler Grieve
