Eagle Theft Puts Spotlight on Problem Confronting Zoos Worldwide

The violent theft of three eagles from the city’s prized zoo was a gruesome escalation of a problem faced by zoos throughout the world--the poaching of rare and exotic animals for sale on a thriving black market.

The staff at the Santa Barbara Zoo, a lush and intimate oasis, has increased security since the April 1 theft. A bald eagle and two goldens, one maimed, one blind, one disabled, were apparently shot and killed in their enclosure before being stolen.

It was not the first theft at the zoo--during three break-ins in the 1980s, intruders took rare parrots, a cockatoo and a goat--but it was the only violent one.

The zoo now faces the task of creating an appropriate memorial for the stolen birds, even as officials make plans to bring in new eagles.

“It happens, and it’s not just from zoos that animals are being taken; it’s out of the wild as well,” said Nancy Hollenbeck, assistant director of the 35-acre zoo. “Elephants are being killed for their ivory and rhinos for their horns; tigers and bears are being killed for the value of their body parts for medicine.”

Eagles usually are targeted for their feathers.

The iconic birds of prey, which hold a special place in some American Indian religions, are federally protected, and their feathers are dispensed only to registered tribes. A two-year waiting list, coupled with strict criteria regulating who may legally possess the feathers, has fueled a thriving black market.

A single eagle feather can bring $100. A perfect fan of tail feathers can fetch more than $1,000. Claws, wings, heads, beaks all find their way into the hands of avid and unscrupulous collectors.

Because of federal protection of eagles, the thieves could earn a year in prison and a $50,000 fine, if they are caught. But Santa Barbara police say they have no suspects.

“The evidence suggests the eagles were shot in their cage. Those three birds all weighed more than 50 pounds each and would attack you if you tried to grab them,” Lt. Nick Katzenstein said. ‘Odds are, they were killed when they were taken.”

Authorities suspect that the eagles’ body parts will be offered for sale. Parrots, monkeys, snakes and other rare birds routinely disappear from zoos worldwide, victims of a growing market for exotic animals as pets, as prey and for their body parts.

“We live in a world in which nature and wild animals are separate from us. We don’t interact with them on a day-to-day basis, which creates a lot of curiosity and attraction,” said Jennifer Wolch, professor of geography at USC.

Zoos respond with upgraded security, but the crimes continue.

A ring of parrot thieves struck zoos in Los Angeles, Santa Ana, Santa Barbara and San Diego in 1986, taking dozens of birds in 10 break-ins. The criminals were never caught. At the San Francisco Zoo, thieves took a crocodile and a squirrel monkey, both of which were recovered.

A rare, tiny squirrel monkey was stolen from the Melbourne Zoo. Two bears and a python were stolen from a traveling zoo in Russia. In Brownsville, Texas, a one-day-old Nigerian dwarf goat disappeared from its mother’s side.

The movement to naturalize zoos by adding trees and plants and removing wire cages has been a boon to thieves.

“You create a zoo as a natural place with as much vegetation as you can, and that’s totally opposite of creating the most secure place you can,” said David Robinett, general curator of the San Francisco Zoo. “You’re faced with an incredible dilemma: Either you create the best zoo for the animals, or you create places that are easy to secure.”

Zoos themselves sometimes add to the trade in exotic species when they sell their surplus animals to dealers. Although some wind up in other legitimate zoos, many find their way into private collections and unregulated roadside zoos.

Others are bought by fenced-in “hunting” ranches where, for a price, hunters stalk and kill sable antelope, wolves, deer, tigers, bears, lions and zebras. Sometimes, hunters ride in the same trucks used to put out feed, and the animals walk up to the hunters, unafraid.

Less ambitious but equally determined collectors can buy body parts. Two raids on poaching rings in India this year yielded seven tiger pelts, 120 leopard pelts and 221 blackbuck skins, as well as 18,000 leopard nails.

“It’s a terrible thing, but it does happen. And like any place that houses something valuable--and rare animals are valuable--zoos have to be very security-conscious,” said Michael Hutchins, director of research for the Aquarium and Zoological Assn., the membership and accrediting organization for 183 zoos and aquariums in North America.

“Live animals can be worth a lot of money in the black markets, and reptiles and birds--in particular, parrots--are potential items that can be stolen,” he said. “Zoos have to be aware and be prepared to protect their exhibits.”

In Santa Barbara, where zoo staff and visitors left flowers for the missing eagles, the facility has offered a $15,000 reward. Although the eagles will be replaced, for now the plan is to concentrate on what the theft taught.

“This theft made us aware that this isn’t just a local tragedy; it’s tied our community into the international scene,” said zoo director Richard Block. “It has made people reflect and think about how valuable animals are to our lives, and that we should never take them for granted.”