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INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Bald eagles that were once wiped out in Indiana are making a comeback in the Hoosier state.
The Indianapolis Star reports that the state counted 110 bald eagle nests last year, more than three times as many nests as a decade before.
Eagle Creek Reservoir in Indianapolis didn't have any eagles when the park was created in 1967. Now officials say there are six eagles there. And earlier this year, five eagles were seen soaring and diving for fish on the Wabash River near downtown Lafayette.
While counting eagles can be difficult, officials say the increased sightings are clear indications things are going well for the state's eagle population.
"Everybody, even veteran bird-watchers, are excited when we get to see a bald eagle," said Donna McCarty, a volunteer with the local chapter of the National Audubon Society. "I know I've never gotten jaded. It's got a beautiful, fierce look to it, and it is our national bird."
Officials attribute the increase in the number of bald eagles — American symbols since the 1700s — to several factors. In the 1940s, Congress made it illegal to kill bald eagles. And in 1972 the Environmental Protection Agency banned the pesticide DDT, which had threatened the birds.
But those measures came too late for Indiana bald eagles.
"The last nesting eagles (in Indiana) that we knew of was in 1897," said John Castrale, a nongame wildlife biologist with the Indiana Department of Natural Resources.
Indiana imported 75 eagles from Alaska and Minnesota in 1985, laying the groundwork for an increasing population of bald eagles.
The resurgence allowed the state to remove bald eagles from the endangered species list in 2008, the year after the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service removed it from its endangered and threatened list. While the bald eagles are no longer considered endangered or threatened, they are protected from capture and hunting through the Migratory Bird Act and the Bald and Golden Eagle Act.
"It's so great that they're no longer a threatened species," said Amber Jenks, a senior zookeeper at Michigan City's Washington Park Zoo, which is home to three bald eagles that have injuries that would prevent them from living in the wild.
Jenks told The Times of Munster that zoo visitors can't help but feel a sense of patriotism and pride when they come to the eagles' enclosure.
"When you see people come by, you see them stop and spend some time here," Jenks said.
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Information from: The Indianapolis Star, http://www.indystar.com
Read more: http://www.ctpost.com/news/article/Bald-ea...p#ixzz1RKXab9Gc
The Indianapolis Star reports that the state counted 110 bald eagle nests last year, more than three times as many nests as a decade before.
Eagle Creek Reservoir in Indianapolis didn't have any eagles when the park was created in 1967. Now officials say there are six eagles there. And earlier this year, five eagles were seen soaring and diving for fish on the Wabash River near downtown Lafayette.
While counting eagles can be difficult, officials say the increased sightings are clear indications things are going well for the state's eagle population.
"Everybody, even veteran bird-watchers, are excited when we get to see a bald eagle," said Donna McCarty, a volunteer with the local chapter of the National Audubon Society. "I know I've never gotten jaded. It's got a beautiful, fierce look to it, and it is our national bird."
Officials attribute the increase in the number of bald eagles — American symbols since the 1700s — to several factors. In the 1940s, Congress made it illegal to kill bald eagles. And in 1972 the Environmental Protection Agency banned the pesticide DDT, which had threatened the birds.
But those measures came too late for Indiana bald eagles.
"The last nesting eagles (in Indiana) that we knew of was in 1897," said John Castrale, a nongame wildlife biologist with the Indiana Department of Natural Resources.
Indiana imported 75 eagles from Alaska and Minnesota in 1985, laying the groundwork for an increasing population of bald eagles.
The resurgence allowed the state to remove bald eagles from the endangered species list in 2008, the year after the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service removed it from its endangered and threatened list. While the bald eagles are no longer considered endangered or threatened, they are protected from capture and hunting through the Migratory Bird Act and the Bald and Golden Eagle Act.
"It's so great that they're no longer a threatened species," said Amber Jenks, a senior zookeeper at Michigan City's Washington Park Zoo, which is home to three bald eagles that have injuries that would prevent them from living in the wild.
Jenks told The Times of Munster that zoo visitors can't help but feel a sense of patriotism and pride when they come to the eagles' enclosure.
"When you see people come by, you see them stop and spend some time here," Jenks said.
___
Information from: The Indianapolis Star, http://www.indystar.com
Read more: http://www.ctpost.com/news/article/Bald-ea...p#ixzz1RKXab9Gc