Young bald eagle shot and killed in Westmoreland County, prompting investigation

A juvenile bald eagle died after it was shot in Westmoreland County, prompting an investigation, the Pennsylvania Game Commission said. 

The Game Commission's Operation Game Thief shared photos to Facebook on Monday asking for help finding information about the illegal killing of the bald eagle, which was found along the Westmoreland Heritage Trail near Beaver Run Reservoir in Salem Township on Aug. 25. 

The Game Commission said the state game warden was initially called to the area for a report of a young injured eagle lying in the woods along the trail. The eagle was picked up, but the Game Commission said it died before it could be taken to a rehabilitator.

While performing a necropsy, the warden found what appeared to be a pellet from an air rifle lodged in the eagle's wing, the Game Commission said. Based on the advanced infection of the wound, investigators believe the eagle was likely shot more than a week earlier.

Anyone with information is asked to report it to the Pennsylvania Game Commission at 1-833-PGC-HUNT or the Operation Game Thief Hotline at 1-888-PGC-8001. Tips can also be submitted online. 

Bald eagles were at the brink of extinction in the mid-1900s because of habitat destruction, illegal hunting and the contamination of their food by the insecticide DDT, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said. 

As recently as 1980, Pennsylvania only had three nesting pairs of bald eagles, the state Game Commission said. But thanks to conservation efforts, the number of nesting bald eagles in Pennsylvania has increased exponentially, with more than 270 by 2013. 

Bald eagles are now protected under the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act, the Migratory Bird Treaty Act and the Lacey Act.