Bald eagle shot at close range and stuffed in bucket: 'We need to find out who did it'

Joel Shannon | USA TODAY

After a bald eagle was shot at close range and left in a bucket near a dirt road in Maine, officials are offering a reward to help find the bird's killer.

Maine Game Warden Alan Curtis told USA TODAY that he was acting on a tip when he found the bird on Memorial Day.

He was investigating a report of a dead bird. What he found: a dead, federally-protected bald eagle — the national bird of the United States since 1782 — stuffed in a bucket.

It was no accident, Curtis said.

The bird was shot at close range. Curtis had the carcass X-rayed and found dozens of pellets, indicating the bird was not shot from a distance.

And at that range, the bird — with its 10-foot wingspan — is unmistakable, Curtis said.

“The way (the eagle was disposed of) was certainly wrong … we need to find out who did it," Curtis told USA TODAY. It's clear to him the bird was "shot with malicious intent."

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That malicious intent could come with a heavy penalty, if anyone is caught.

The Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act makes killing or otherwise "taking" a bald eagle a crime punishable by a fine of up to $100,000 and/or imprisonment for a year, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

That's for a first offense. Penalties increase for subsequent offenses and can include felony charges.

Tips leading to a conviction carry a reward of up to $2,500 from the federal government, according to the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife. An additional reward of $1000 is being offered by a state agency

Anyone with information regarding this incident can call the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Office of Law Enforcement at 207-469-6842.