They also allegedly sold parts and feathers on the black market.
Two Americans have been charged with illegally killing about 3,600 birds, including bald eagles and golden eagles.
BBC writes about this.
Simon Paul and Travis Branson allegedly shot birds for several years and sold the parts and feathers on the black market.
They were charged with conspiracy, violating the Bald Eagle and Golden Eagle Protection Act, and trafficking.
The two men were ordered to appear in court in January. The indictment alleges they killed birds on the Flathead Indian Reservation in western Montana and other locations. Branson also reportedly sent messages bragging about “committing felonies” and “murder,” and that the couple sold birds and their feathers for “significant sums of money.”
< img class="c-card__embed__img" src="https://img.tsn.ua/cached/040/tsn-dc382829a98d0f40b34d312a72bcb9b7/thumbs/x/73/e1/619160577ed5bf645f3719cc728ee173.jpeg" width="30 00" height="1831 " alt="Bald Eagles/© Getty Images">
At one point, the men laid out a deer carcass to attract the birds before shooting them.
The indictment listed 13 specific instances of alleged violations of the Eagle Protection Act, but prosecutors did not say what other bird species people killed or how many were rare or endangered.
The bald eagle is the national bird of the United States and is featured on both the currency and the national seal.
The maximum sentence for conspiracy and trafficking is five years, and violations of the Eagle Protection Act are punishable by a year in prison and fines.
Recall that a woman who experienced clinical death frankly talked about her near-death experience. She went into cardiac arrest due to complications from COVID.
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