"Mutilated eagles found in North Vancouver
Last Updated Thu, 03 Feb 2005 20:27:55 EST
CBC News
NORTH VANCOUVER - The gruesome discovery of nearly two dozen mutilated bald eagles has animal lovers in North Vancouver outraged and the local First Nations band on the defensive.
The carcasses were found on the Burrard Inlet band's reserve.
Conservation officers are on the scene but will say little other than the matter is under investigation.
Julie Bryson-McElwee was walking her dog in a wooded area Wednesday night when she saw dead bald eagles: four in a row, then another three, then more scattered about.
She was horrified.
"To see a full-grown black and white eagle, lying in the dirt, four of them in a row, the frightening thing was none of them had any legs," she said.
Wildlife conservation officers found a total of 21 eagle carcasses. It's unclear how the eagles died.
They say they often give eagle carcasses they find to First Nations bands for ceremonial purposes.
The birds were found on the reserve lands of the Burrard Inlet band. But band member Leonard George says this is not the act of a native person, for whom eagles are sacred.
It shows "total disrespect," said George, to "mutilate an animal, an eagle and take its talons and tail feathers and leave it lying all over the earth."
Three years ago a member of the Salish Tribe in Duncan, B.C., was charged after eagle carcasses, some missing their legs, were found in his freezer.
He was found guilty of smuggling and selling eagle parts in Seattle, Wash., and sentenced to 24 months in jail. "
http://www.cbc.ca/story/canada/national/2005/02/03/eagles050203.html
