In today’s booming black market for migratory bird
parts, a single bald eagle feather can fetch $100. Given such
prices, it’s not surprising that a two-year U.S. Fish and Wildlife
sting operation netted 35 individuals and businesses allegedly
involved in the killing and selling of protected migratory birds in
Arizona, New Mexico and Colorado.
The stiffest
charges are against five Jemez Pueblo men from northern New Mexico
and three Navajo Indians from Arizona for using traps to kill
protected eagles. If convicted, they could spend up to five years
in prison and pay $100,000 to $250,000 in
fines.
“The individuals in this particular case
were not killing eagles for religious or ceremonial purposes,” says
U.S. Fish and Wildlife spokeswoman Anne-Berry Wade. “It was purely
commercial.”
The illegal feathers are used to
make popular items, such as fans and kachina dolls, which are sold
through the black market to trading posts, collectors and
tourists.
Wildlife officials said they ended the
operation early, blowing their cover in order to make arrests just
before this winter’s migratory season. During last winter’s
migration, 60 eagles were either shot or trapped in one pueblo
alone, officials said.
Bird parts seized in this
case will go to the Wildlife Service’s National Eagle Repository
near Denver, where they are made available by permit to Native
Americans for recognized religious and cultural
purposes.
* Sarah
Dry
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Sting nets bird killers.
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