BEDFORD, Ind. — A bald eagle shot and killed in Lawrence County has conservation officers looking for whomever did it.

In a Facebook post, the Indiana DNR says they found a bald eagle alive but suffering from a gunshot wound on Saturday. It was laying on the ground just south of the White River near Dixie Highway a few miles south of Bedford. The eagle later died.

Not only is it illegal to shoot a bald eagle in Indiana, but it’s also a federal law. The Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act was enacted in 1940.

Anyone with information is encouraged to contact Indiana Conservation Officers’ Central Dispatch at 812-837-9536 or their anonymous TIP line at 1-800-TIPIDNR.

A reward is available for information leading to arrests.

The law “provides for the protection of the bald eagle and the golden eagle (as amended in 1962) by prohibiting the take, possession, sale, purchase, barter, offer to sell, purchase or barter, transport, export or import, of any bald or golden eagle, alive or dead, including any part, nest, or egg, unless allowed by permit.”

Bald eagles were recently reintroduced to Indiana after nearly disappearing a few decades ago.

 

photo courtesy Indiana DNR