The Costs of Eagle Poaching

  • The Bald Eagle and the Golden Eagle are both protected by federal law. (Photo by Jeremy Henderson)

The eagle has long been treasured as a national symbol, but the bird is also prized by poachers. Pow-wow dancers, new age shamans, and European trophy collectors are paying top dollar on the black market for eagle parts. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Brian Bull reports:

Transcript

Eagles have long been treasured as a national symbol, but the bird is also prized by poachers. Pow-wow dancers, New Age shamans, and European trophy collectors are paying top dollar on the black market for eagle parts. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Brian Bull reports:


Eagle heads, feet, wings, and feathers are prized for costumes, artwork, and ceremonies. Some collectors are paying roughly a thousand dollars for a golden or bald eagle carcass.


Mary Jane Lavin is a special agent with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. She says the birds are protected by the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act. Violators can land up to a year in jail and
pay a $100,000 penalty.


Lavin says a better way to get eagle parts is through a federal repository program. The program sends out carcasses and parts from eagles that have died in the wilderness or in zoos.


“The demand is greater than the supply, and there is a waiting list but we’re doing our best to make sure that we can provide those things, that were acquired and died naturally so that
people don’t have to feel that they need to go out and shoot eagles.”


Special permits for possessing and gathering feathers can also be given to those with government-issued Certificates of Indian Birth.


For the GLRC, I’m Brian Bull.

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