Injuries from shotgun pellets could prevent a protected Peregrine falcon, hatched in Iowa, from ever flying again.
The falcon was found near a shed outside a tavern in suburban Milwaukee, Wisconsin on February 27, 2014 according to our sister station WITI. The female falcon was hit by several shotgun pellets that hit her in the head, chest and abdomen. She suffered internal injuries and a broken coracoid bone, which could prevent her from ever being able to fly again.
Bands on the falcon’s feet helped rescuers identify her as Madame X, born four years ago in Iowa. She migrated to Wisconsin and hatched her first chicks in the spring of 2013 at a nesting box at We Energies power plant in Wauwatosa.
The utility donated $2,500 toward medical care and treatment for Madame X. The falcon could become an educational bird after her recovery.
The Humane Society of the United States and the Humane Society Wildlife Land Trust are offering a $5,000 reward for anyone coming forward with information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons who shot Madame X.
A statement from Global Conservation Group said they, too, were offering an additional $5,000 reward “for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the individual(s) responsible for this act of cruelty.”
Shooting a Peregrine falcon in Wisconsin is punishable by a fine of up to $5,000 and up to nine months in jail.
Peregrine falcons were “removed from the federal threatened and endangered species list on August 25, 1999. The Peregrine remains protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act,” according to the Iowa Department of Agriculture.
