Report: Bald eagles found dead in Maryland were poisoned

FEDERALSBURG, Md. (AP) - A federal lab report says at least six of the 13 bald eagles found dead on a Maryland farm in 2016 had been poisoned.

The Washington Post reported Wednesday that a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service report says the birds ingested a pesticide. The Post reports the pesticide, carbofuran, is essentially banned from the U.S. market partly due to it being lethal to birds.

Fish and Wildlife Service special agent John LaCorte says investigators believe the birds fed on a raccoon that may have been purposely poisoned. LaCorte says that even if the eagles weren’t targeted, someone illegally used carbofuran and added to a wildlife poisoning “epidemic on the Eastern Shore.”

The Post says the report was shared obtained by WNAV-AM through a public records request and shared with the newspaper.

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Information from: The Washington Post, http://www.washingtonpost.com