A bald eagle cub shot multiple times in northern Pennsylvania is undergoing rehab at a nonprofit wildlife rescue in the Pocono Mountains as officials search for a suspect.
The female eagle was discovered by the game warden on Monday in Wyalusing, Pennsylvania, which is about 50 miles northeast of Scranton, ABC7 reported.
The raptor had two gunshot wounds to the wing and one to the back, the news station reported.
Officials are now investigating who shot the eagle.
It is not the first bald eagle to be hit by gunfire. Earlier this summer, an adult bald eagle was also discovered with a gunshot wound.
That Eagle in Missouri fought for his life back in July after a gunshot wound nearly split his beak in two.
The bird, dubbed patient 24-390, was admitted to World Bird Sanctuary’s hospital in Valley Park, a city in St. Louis County, Missouri, on July 11 with severe trauma.
Blood tests also showed that 24-390 were suffering from lead poisoning, a condition that affects over 75% of the bald eagles treated at the sanctuary.
“The beak damage is so severe that it cannot be repaired,” said Kira Klebe, the sanctuary’s director of rehabilitation at the time.
She added that “the tissue in the affected areas looks as promising as we could hope, with signs of healthy granulation tissue starting to fill in the wounds.”
Stitches from his previous two surgeries to stabilize the fractures and close the gap in his beak are healing well, as are jaw fractures, Klebe said.
The first operation involved placing cross pins on either side of the fracture, which were then secured with epoxy to create a stabilizing structure on the outside of the beak to maintain proper alignment.
Bald Eagles are protected as a national symbol of the United States, and harming one is a federal crime.