Authorities have charged two men after they entered private property in Nebraska and shot and killed a North American bald eagle with the intention of eating it.
The pair, in their 20s, were charged with unlawful possession of the eagle, the Stanton County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release Tuesday.
The sheriff’s office said the two men lived in Norfolk, about 113 miles northwest of Omaha and 83 miles west of Sioux City.
On Tuesday around 4 p.m., deputies responded to a report of a vehicle in a field northwest of the Wood Duck Recreation Area. There, deputies found two people and learned they had shot and killed the bird.
Federal protection for bald eagles
The bald eagle, the national emblem of the United States, has been a protected species since 1940.
Eagles and their nests are federally protected under the Bald and Golden Eagle Conservation Act and the Migratory Bird Treaty.
Under the Eagle Protection Act, injuring or killing an eagle can result in a $100,000 fine and a year in prison for a first offense, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. A second offense is a felony and carries a more severe penalty.
Stanton County Sheriff Mike Unger said the Honduran men, who did not speak English, shot the vulture at deputies, The New York Times reported, and urged deputies to use a translation app to communicate with the men.
When the deputy asked to see the bird, Unger told the outlet, the men agreed and opened the trunk of their car, revealing an air rifle, a BB gun and a northern bald eagle. – America is dead.
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The sheriff said the men told deputies “they intended to take it home, cook it and eat it, and it’s unclear whether the men knew it was against federal law to kill the eagle. He also said the translation app they were using may have mispronounced “bird” when communicating with the deputies.
Nebraska Game and Parks responded to the scene and seized the eagle and the gun used to kill the eagle, the sheriff’s office said.
Additional federal charges are possible as the investigation continues, the sheriff’s office said.
Natalie Neisa Alund covers the trending news in USA TODAY. Contact him at nalund@usatoday.com and follow him on Twitter @nataliealund.
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