INVER GROVE HEIGHTS, Minn. — Three bald eagles have died and at least 10 others got sick after scavenging the carcasses of euthanized animals and were possibly poisoned in Minnesota.
The Inver Grove Heights Police Department brought in a severely sick juvenile bald eagle to the University of Minnesota Raptor Center on Dec. 4, according to the Minneapolis Star Tribune. The sick bald eagle was found in the snow near the Pine Bend Landfill in Minnesota.
Veterinarians believe that the bald eagle possibly ate from a carcass of an animal that was euthanized, said the MST. The chemical used for that is pentobarbital.
The following day, volunteers went to the area where the sick bald eagle had been found. They found nine other birds with similar symptoms, according to the MST.
The University of Minnesota Raptor Center’s executive director Victoria Hall said that the eagles were found lying motionless, face down in the snow and volunteers were not sure whether they were alive or not, according to The Associated Press.
According to the AP, investigators confirmed that on Dec. 2, two days before the first bald eagle was brought to the University of Minnesota Raptor Center, some euthanized animals were brought to the landfill.
Hall said that when animals are euthanized chemically, they are supposed to be disposed of in a way that other animals like bald eagles can’t scavenge them, according to the AP.
Of the 11 eagles that were brought to the University of Minnesota Raptor Center three also had lead poisoning, according to the AP. Of the three eagles that died, one died from bird flu, while the other two eagles were found dead near the landfill.
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