BREAKING NEWS: (updated) American Bald Eagle put down Thursday night

The severely injured 3 1/2-year-old male eagle was reported to Indiana Conservation officer Mike Gregg last Sunday afternoon near County Road 800W -- just north of County Road 600N -- northeast of Linton.

The eagle -- suffering from a massive gunshot wound -- was taken to a federally license rehabilitator, Return to the Wild, Inc., located in Nashville, Ind., for care. The age of the bird was determined after an assessment was made at the Hillview Veterinary Clinic in Franklin.

"The eagle had to be put down -- euthanized -- last night (Thursday) about 6 p.m," Indiana Conservation Officer spokesman Max Winchell told the Greene County Daily World on Friday morning. "It had just too much damage to several different bones and the muscle tissue wasn't responding like they had hoped. I guess it was too bad. I asked them if they could have amputated the wing to save it and they said part of it would have had to been amputated anyway. It was just a really bad wound."

The dead bird has been turned over to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Winchell stated.

Through x-rays the type of caliber weapon that was used has been determined, but investigators don't want to release that information at this time, according to Winchell.

The DNR spokesman said investigators have received several leads in the case since news of the incident was released to the media Tuesday morning.

"We're following up on some leads. We've got some other leads that were called in. We really appreciate that. If anyone has any other information, we still want that," he said. "We are still actively working on it."

A minimum of a $1,500 reward is available for information leading to an arrest of the person responsible for shooting. Greene County Crime Stoppers also is offering a reward.

Winchell said the shooting of an American Bald Eagle is a serious federal crime.

The bald eagle, America's national symbol, was removed from the U.S. threatened and endangered species list in 2007.

Bald eagles were first listed as "endangered" in 1967, after hunting, poisoning and widespread use of DDT reduced the number of bald eagles to 417 breeding pairs in the continental United States. The eagles' status was changed from "endangered" to "threatened" in 1995. Today, there are bald eagles in Alaska and all of the lower 48 states, and 10,000 breeding pairs nationwide, according to a story that was published in the Washington Post.

Even though bald eagles are no longer listed as "endangered," federal laws and policies -- specifically, the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act protects them.

The shooting of a bald eagle -- whether it dies or not -- is a felony under federal statute with a fine up to $100,000 and/or up to one year in jail or both, according to Winchell.

Winchell said it's a possibility that the eagle may have been mistaken for a turkey vulture or other large bird, and he added that an immature eagle does resemble a turkey vulture because it's all black.

"They (eagles) are considered mature by the age of five and this one was 3 1/2, but most of its head feathers were white," Winchell pointed out.

Greene County Prosecutor Jarrod Holtsclaw called the eagle shooting a shame and indicated that legal action would be faced by the individual or individuals responsible if investigators are successful in their probe of the incident.

"I can't believe that anyone would intentionally shoot a bald eagle," Holtsclaw said Friday afternoon. "The number one rule of hunting is identify your target before you fire the arrow or shoot the gun. It's a shame this happened."

Conservation Officers have been interviewing area residents and are seeking any information about this crime.

"There have been other animals that have been shot in the area and we believe the shootings may be related," Gregg said earlier this week.

Conservation officers are interested in speaking with anyone who was traveling in the area of CR 800W and CR600N on March 15 or that has traveled through the area in the last month.

"This is a fairly remote and low traffic area. Information about vehicles that have been seen in the area could help make this case" Gregg noted.

Anyone with information relating to this case is asked to call the Turn in a Poacher hotline at 1-800-TIP-IDNR.