Jaye Moore, Director of the Northwest Raptor & Wildlife Center, and Dr. Jennifer Tavares of Greywolf Veterinary Hospital, tend to the wounded bald eagle.
A young bald eagle remained in critical condition in the intensive care ward of a Sequim area veterinary hospital Monday. The eagle suffered a fractured ulna bone in its left wing after being shot by what officials believe was a .22 caliber rifle Dec. 15. The long-term prognosis is unknown.
The Northwest Raptor & Wildlife Center, the Sequim wildlife rescue and rehabilitation non-profit, is seeking information leading to the identification of the person who illegally shot a bald eagle on Dec. 15 in Beaver, nine miles north of Forks.
Jaye Moore, director of the Raptor Center, received a phone call about the bird and reported the call to Brian Fairbanks, a Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife officer, who retrieved the wounded animal and brought it to the center.
"It is a very young male bald eagle born this year," Moore said.
"Officer Fairbanks brought him to me in rough shape. He was cold, shivering, and very weak. I cared for him and kept him warm through the night and took him the next morning to Dr. Maya Bewig at Greywolf Veterinary Hospital in Sequim. Dr. Bewig was able to confirm that the eagle had been shot and still has bullet fragments in one of his broken wings. With the help of Greywolf’s incredible staff, we are going to take the best care of him we can."
Matthew Randazzo, the Public Relations Director at the Raptor & Wildlife Center, is seeking any information that might help identify the shooter.
"There is a sadistic and cruel individual at large who shot a juvenile bald eagle for his own personal amusement and left it to slowly die in the rain," Randazzo said.
"We are asking anyone who might be able to help identify this person to step forward and help us bring him to justice."
Contact Randazzo at Matthew@NWRaptorCenter.com or the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife at 1-877-933-9847 with any tips.