Insecticides Blamed in Deaths of 17 Bald Eagles in Wisconsin

An insecticide killed 17 bald eagles found recently in northwestern Wisconsin, state and federal officials said.

Tests conducted on the birds at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Laboratory in Ashland, Ore., found traces of Carbofuran, a pesticide used to kill worms in corn, strawberries and potatoes.

Wildlife service officials declined to say whether they believe the eagle poisonings were intentional. But that type of pesticide is not generally used this early in the growing season, and there is little vegetable crop production in Burnett County’s Fish Lake area, where the birds died, authorities said.

Authorities said the eagles and other animals probably died immediately after ingesting the pesticide.

The wildlife service and the state Department of Natural Resources is offering a reward of up to $5,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of anyone who caused the eagle deaths.

Bald eagles are no longer on the brink of extinction as they were decades ago. But the birds remain on state and federal threatened species lists, in part because of poisoning, shooting, trapping and the destruction of their forest habitat, officials said.

Overall, the bird’s population here in the state has steadily climbed from a low of 82 active nesting pairs in 1970 to 464 nesting pairs in 1993, officials said.