Carlie Vetrini, Ocean Road School
Ocean County
Bald Eagle. Ocean County Carlie Vetrini
THE BALD EAGLE
Bald Eagles are graceful animals, though most people don’t think about their life. You would think an animal like the Bald Eagle would live easily out in the wild because of how big they are, but they haven’t done so well in the past decades. Bald eagles are endangered and threatened. Even though the bald eagle is endangered, their numbers have risen in the past years. Wildlife laws have brought these birds back out of the brink of extinction!
First, I will tell you what made the Bald Eagle endangered! Bald Eagles live by marshes and rivers. A lot of hunters hunt by where they live, so sometimes they shoot them. Hunting is one of the Bald Eagle’s problems. Another problem for the eagle was pesticides. Some pesticides affected the eagles’ eggs, causing a disruption of the bird’s calcium metabolism. Because of the disruption in the eagle’s eggs, they would be 20% thinner than normal. Since they were thinner they broke more easily. Finally, here is their success story!
Close to extinction but, no! Laws have done a great deal of good for this bird! In 1940, legal protection began for the Bald Eagle with the Bald Eagle Protection Act. This prevented them from being captured. They banned DDT, a pesticide, which was the most serious threat to the eagle. Kinder treatment from people helped the eagle too. In the 1990s breeding populations improved. You should still be protective over the eagle though. They are a big part of the food chain! They eat fish, and if they die out it could possibly affect the food chain in a bad way. Continue to save our Bald Eagle, because no animal wants to be extinct. Their comeback was strong and we never want to have them almost lost again!
Written by: Carlie Vetrini
Ocean Road School, Point Pleasant
Teacher: Mrs. Dolan