CHESAPEAKE, Va. (AP) - A popular bald eagle hatched at Virginia’s Norfolk Botanical Gardens had to be euthanized after being shot.
The Virginian-Pilot reports (https://bit.ly/2qlXRo4) the 7-year-old male eagle named Camellia was shot Saturday in Chesapeake. Officials say the eagle had over 20 pieces of buckshot in its body and wouldn’t survive its injuries.
Reese Lukei, research associate for the Center for Conservation Biology at the College of William & Mary, says the bird gained fame when Lukei placed a satellite tracker on him after his birth in 2010. However, researchers lost track of the bird when the eagle’s transmitter fell off in 2015.
Botanical Gardens spokeswoman Kelly Welsh says they are deeply saddened to hear that one of the eaglets born at the garden suffered an unnatural death.
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Information from: The Virginian-Pilot, https://pilotonline.com
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