An injured bald eagle brought to the American Bald Eagle Foundation last week had been shot.

Raptor curator Leia Minch said the adult eagle arrived at the foundation at 8 a.m. Monday, June 12 with a wing injury and head trauma.

Haines Animal Rescue Kennel director Tracy Mikowski received the initial call from a construction crew building a home on lower Mud Bay Road.

“By the time I got there it was in the brush in a ditch,” Mikowski said.

Foundation staff stabilized the animal’s condition and shipped it to the Alaska Raptor Center in Sitka for further treatment. X-rays revealed shrapnel in the bird’s upper chest and shoulder.

Two federal laws, the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, make it felony crime to shoot a bald eagle.

Minch said she has to report the incident to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Hannah Blanke, an avian care specialist with the Alaska Raptor Center, said the shrapnel was left in the body because it was not near any vital organs, but the bird’s wingtip was amputated.

Blanke said the eagle will likely not be released back into the wild. The Alaska Raptor Center will evaluate the eagle’s behavior to see if it would be a good fit to be placed in an educational facility.