State and federal officials, along with a pair of nonprofits, are offering a total reward of $20,000 for information on the fatal shooting of a bald eagle in Louisiana.
The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries announced the new higher reward Monday. The agency is investigating an incident from Dec. 5, 2025, when a bald eagle was found fatally injured from a gunshot wound in Vermilion Parish, Louisiana, 136 miles west of New Orleans.
The state is host to 350 mating pairs that live there year-round, and another 2,900 pairs come to Louisiana on a seasonal basis, according to the Center for Biological Diversity, which is offering part of the reward money.
The state has the second-most bald eagle nests nationwide, behind Florida.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which performed a necropsy on the dead eagle, is also assisting in the investigation, and is proffering up $2,500 of the reward money. Killing bald eagles is a violation of federal law punishable by up to a year in prison and a fine of up to $5,000, in addition to civil restitution of up to $5,000.
The Louisiana Operation Game Thief program is adding $1,000 to the reward. The nonprofit Humane World for Animals is contributing $3,500 to the pot of reward money, and fellow nonprofit the Center for Biological Diversity is contributing the lion’s share at $13,000.
“Bald eagles are American icons and soaring symbols of successful conservation, and killing them is despicable and illegal. We want to do everything we can to ensure the person who shot this beautiful bird is brought to justice,” Lindsay Reeves, an attorney with the Center for Biological Diversity based out of Louisiana, said in a release from the group Monday.
Anyone with information is asked to call 1-800-442-2511 or to text their tip to 847411.
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