British Columbia wildlife officials have identified a native Canadian as their main suspect in the disturbing slaughter and mutilation of 50 bald eagles on Vancouver's North Shore last winter.
The man is thought to be part of a bigger smuggling ring that peddles lucrative eagle parts to the United States and other provinces, British Columbia's manager of conservation services, Lance Sundquist, said at a news conference yesterday.
It is believed that others in the ring killed the majestic winged predators and the suspect acted as a distributor. All told, it is believed that poachers kill about 500 bald eagles each year in British Columbia. U.S. officials have said the figure is as high as 1,000.
Mr. Sundquist urged the suspect to turn himself in.
His comments marked the first break in a case that has angered wildlife lovers on the West Coast. In February, a woman walking her dog stumbled on a grave of more than a dozen bald eagles. A few days later, more bird carcasses were found in the same North Vancouver park. The eagles' feet had been severed.
From the beginning, there was speculation that the eagles were killed because dancers on North America's native powwow circuit covet their parts.
"Clearly there is an issue around . . . marketing of wildlife parts," Mr. Sundquist said. "And this is one case in a number of cases in a number of species that are being targeted; they are being unlawfully harvested."
The dead eagles were found in a wooded area on land belonging to the Tsleil-Waututh Nation. Its leaders have expressed disgust at the killings and contributed to a reward to catch the poachers.
Feathers from an eagle's wing can sell for $100 each. Eagle down is plucked and used in headdresses that sell to collectors in Europe for as much as $85,000.
Last week, a native elder told an aboriginal publication that a group of native men had confessed to elders that they were behind the eagle deaths.
Viviane Sandy said they are young people overwhelmed with guilt.
The North Vancouver eagle killings are strikingly similar to a case six years ago in which a renowned native craftsman and mask dancer was convicted in the United States after police found 124 eagle parts in his Vancouver Island home and even more at a storage locker in Seattle.
Terry Antoine was sentenced to two years in jail and fined $250,000 (U.S.) by a jury that heard how he bought eagles for $50 each from natives on Vancouver Island before dealing the parts on the powwow circuit.
Penalties for killing an eagle are far stiffer south of the border, where the birds have an iconic status in the American imagination, though eagles are an endangered species.
In British Columbia, by contrast, eagles are plentiful on the south coast, where tens of thousands converge in the winter months to hunt fish. More than 80 have nests in the Greater Vancouver area.
Fines of up to $50,000 can be levied for poaching or trafficking in eagle parts. Under federal laws, offenders can be fined up to $150,000 and jailed for five years if they illegally export eagle parts.
In Canada and the United States, eagles that die naturally are given to native groups so that the plumage can be used.
But the demand for feathers and talons among aboriginal dancers and from collectors of native regalia outstrips supply, driving a lucrative black market.
David Hancock, an eagle expert, said the practice of handing over dead eagles to native groups may have fuelled the large demand for eagle parts.
The North Vancouver discovery of eagle carcasses prompted the formation of a task force to probe the killings. It included officials from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The RCMP have also provided assistance.
A $10,000 reward has been offered for information on the eagle-poaching case.