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Reward offered for eagle death leads

Crime Stoppers puts up $500

Webster County Crime Stoppers is offering a $500 reward for information leading to an arrest in connection with two recent shootings of bald eagles.

Both birds, which were found shot during the past two weeks, died.

Webster County Sheriff Jim Stubbs said Monday that Crime Stoppers is offering the reward to hopefully encourage someone to come forward about the shootings, which may be connected.

Stubbs said he believes the reward will help.

“There’s been a lot of time and effort to re-establish the eagles around here,” he said. “It’s just a majestic bird and it symbolizes a lot. They don’t need to be needlessly shot and killed.”

Conservation Officer William Spece, with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, said the investigation into the shootings is ongoing.

“We are getting some calls and some information,” Spece said, “but right now I can’t really say what that pertains to.”

He added that shootings of bald eagles, a state and federally protected bird species, are rare.

“I wouldn’t say it’s common by any means,” he said. “Most people have respect for our national symbol and most people have respect, if nothing else, just for the fact that it’s illegal to do.”

The first bird, described by Spece as an immature eagle, was found about two weeks ago by a person looking for deer antler sheds in the Boone Forks Wildlife Area in southeast Webster County.

The second eagle was a mature bird that was found March 18 near the sewage lagoons at Lehigh.

Spece said the bird was alive when it was found but died shortly after being taken to a wildlife rehabilitation center. He said the bird had been shot twice.

“Both eagles were shot with a similar caliber firearm and left for dead, so it is possible that these cases are related,” Spece said, adding the shooting sites are within 10 miles of each other.

Anyone with information on the eagle shootings can either call Crime Stoppers at 573-1444, email the tip at wccrimestoppers.com or text the information to 274637.

Tips can also be sent to the Iowa DNR’s Turn In Poachers website at iowadnr.gov/tip or by calling the hotline at (800) 532-2020. Spece said he can also be reached at 571-0127.

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