Bald eagle chick vanishes in San Jacinto Mountains
By: Associated Press - | ∞
LAKE HEMET -- One of two bald eagle chicks in the San Jacinto Mountains has vanished.
U.S. Forest Service officials suspect strong winds a few weeks ago knocked down the nest and the eaglet may have been eaten by other animals in the Lake Hemet area 80 miles southeast of Los Angeles.
The 12-week-old eaglet, which was too young to fly, hasn't been seen since early June, said wildlife biologist Anne Poopatanapong of the San Bernardino National Forest's San Jacinto Ranger District.
Poopatanapong said she searched the area but could not find any signs that the eaglet had survived.
The chick's sibling fell out of the nest and broke its right wing earlier this month. It is being cared for at the Coachella Valley Wild Bird Center in Indio and may never be returned to the wild because the wing hasn't healed properly.
Eagles were first spotted in the San Jacinto Mountains in the 1990s.
Bald eagles are expected to be removed from federal Endangered Species Act protection later this month.
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