FAYETTE COUNTY, Iowa - Wildlife groups in Iowa say there's a growing threat to bald eagles from hunters.
However, it is not because the eagles are being shot. Instead, they're being poisoned.
So far this hunting season, at least two eagles have been found in Iowa killed from lead poisoning.
Workers at the Black Hawk Wildlife Project say the eagles often eat the dead animals that hunters shoot, especially when Hunters don't dump animal carcasses properly.
They also say if hunters stopped using lead bullets, deaths like this could be prevented.
"It's heartbreaking to see one go down and knowing that it is something preventable, that we can continue to educate people on and help them to understand that this is something that people that hunt and people that fish can definitely have a part in." said Terese Evans of the Black Hawk Wildlife Project.
Lead poisoning does not only impact bald eagles. Experts say more than 50 other animals are susceptible to it.