Donna
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« on: 21-Apr-11, 07:10:14 AM » |
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QUANTICO, Va. - The remains of a bald eagle were discovered March 21 by Marines training on Quantico Marine Corps Base Range 3.
Personnel from Weapons Training Battalion contacted range control, the provost marshal office and Quantico conservation law enforcement to find out how the bald eagle was killed.
“It was an immediate response,” said Dan Hensley, one of Quantico’s conservation law enforcement investigators. “Whenever we have a protected animal that’s been injured or killed, we need to get on scene as quickly as possible to find out what the situation is.”
Though no longer on the endangered species act, it has been illegal to kill, disturb or possess parts of bald eagle since the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act of 1940, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Web page. The only exception to this stringently-enforced rule are authorized Native Americans who may obtain feathers from the USFWS National Eagle Repository at Rocky Mountain Arsenal, Colo. A first-time offense is punishable with fines up to $100,000 and a year imprisonment, according to the USFWS Web page.
The deceased raptor on Range 3 is one of only three bald eagles ever found dead aboard Quantico. The previous two eagle deaths were caused by auto and aircraft collisions, according to Hensley.
This eagle had suffered two puncture wounds, leading officials to initially believe they might have criminal case of someone shooting a protected animal. Quantico conservation investigators coordinated with the USFWS to take the appropriate actions, but first, a comprehensive necropsy was required to determine the cause of death.
“We found the Hartwood Animal Hospital and the people there were incredible,” said Hensley. “Anything that is done on wildlife is done free of charge. They showed incredible professionalism in what they do.”
X-rays and further analysis conducted at Hartwood Animal Hospital on April 1 revealed the eagle had not died at the hands of a poacher, but in the talons of another raptor. The bald eagle had fallen in combat against what was most likely another bald eagle, said Hensley.
While few would find the death of any bald eagle as a cause to celebrate, the Range 3 eagle’s fighting death is representative of a conservation success story: the increase of bald eagle populations aboard Quantico and across Virginia.
Hensley surmised that the inland location of the deceased eagle suggested enough birds exist aboard Quantico to cause them to fight for territory.
Bald eagle populations in Virginia have soared from a low point of 77 breeding pairs in the early 1970s to more than 700 pairs, according to Dr. Bryan Watts, director at the Center for Conservation Biology at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg. If one includes eagle populations residing in the greater Chesapeake Bay area, the number is estimated to be above 1,500 breeding pairs, said Watts.
“What we are seeing now is that the [bald eagle] population is reaching saturation,” said Watts. “Pairs have filled up the nesting habitat. When this happens birds that are reaching breeding age have nowhere to settle and breed. These young birds begin to fight with territory holders to gain breeding areas.
“We have not seen many combat deaths in recent decades but we are on the cusp of all that changing,” said Watts. “These kinds of combats are a behavioral mechanism to reduce population growth and fit the population to the available landscape. In the past couple of years, there has been an increase in downed birds brought into rehabilitation facilities from wounds and also mortalities.”
Most bald eagle experts, including Watts, attribute much of the increase in bald eagle populations to the banning of DDT pesticide in 1972. But other actions taken by conservation officials also had a positive effect on eagle populations.
“Mainly, we keep track of populations on base,” said Tim Stamps, biologist at Quantico’s Natural Resources and Environmental Affairs branch. “Years ago, we put restricted area signs and gates around nest protection zones. Since the eagle has been delisted from the endangered species list, the legal requirements [to protect] bald eagles are not as stringent.”
The bald eagle was removed from the endangered species list in 2007 due to the increase in their population, according to a statement on the USFWS Web page. But that doesn’t mean the fight to preserve America’s national symbol is over.
The USFWS will continue to monitor bald eagle populations every five years for the next two decades to ensure the bald eagle recovery stays on track, according to their Web page. With nearly 100 square miles of territory in the midst of the densely-populated northern Virginia region, MCB Quantico has an important role to play in the bald eagle recovery.
“We have compared productivity between [bald eagle] pairs that nest on protected lands like [Department of Defense, FWS and National Park Service properties around the Chesapeake Bay], with pairs on private land and [the former] are significantly more productive,” said Watts. ““Properties like Quantico have been critical for the recovery and will be even more critical in the long term to sustain the recovery.”
Eagle talons
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