A baby bald eagle that was shot multiple times in northern Pennsylvania is undergoing rehabilitation at a nonprofit wildlife refuge in the Pocono Mountains as authorities search for the suspect.
The female eagle was discovered Monday by a game warden in Wyalusing, Pennsylvania, about 50 miles northeast of Scranton. ABC7 reported..
The raptor suffered two bullet wounds to its wing and one to its back, the news station reported.
Authorities are currently investigating who shot the eagle.
This is not the first time a bald eagle has been shot: earlier this summer an adult bald eagle was found with a gunshot wound.
The Missouri eagle was shot in July, nearly splitting its beak in half and putting its life in jeopardy.
The bird, named Patient 24-390, World Bird Sanctuary He was taken to a hospital in Valley Park, St. Louis County, Missouri, on July 11 with serious injuries.
Blood tests also revealed that 24-390 was suffering from lead poisoning, a condition found in more than 75 percent of bald eagles treated at the sanctuary.
“The damage to the beak is so severe that it may not be repairable,” Kira Klebe, the sanctuary's rehabilitation manager, said at the time.
She added: “The affected tissue is looking promising, with signs of healthy granulation tissue beginning to fill the wound.”
Klebe said the stitches from two previous surgeries he underwent to stabilize the fracture and close the gap in his beak are healing well, as are the fractured jaw.
The first surgery involved placing cruciate pins on either side of the fracture and securing them with epoxy to create a stabilizing construct on the outside of the beak to maintain proper position.
Bald eagles are protected as a national symbol of the United States, and harming one is a violation of federal law.
