Opinion ID: 213533
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 10

Heading: Statistical Data on Eagle Populations

Text: Eagles are particularly vulnerable to hunting, and small changes in the number of breeding adults can have drastic impacts on the overall health of the species. Bald eagles breed only after they reach the age of six years; they produce on average only two eggs per year, of which only one will fledge. Wilgus, 606 F.Supp.2d at 1321. Of the birds that do fledge, only 50% will survive to maturity. Id. Because both the male and female parents of eagle chicks participate in raising young, losing one member of the pair makes it significantly less likely that chicks will survive. Id. Therefore, the loss of adult eagles has a proportionally greater impact on the species as a whole than in other birds. Id. The loss of an adult breeding pair may be equivalent to the loss of 10-15 fledgling eagles due to the long-term loss of reproductive capability. On an annual basis, that would be . . . all the reproduction of bald eagles for the State of Kansas for a year. Id. at 1322 (quotation omitted). Nevertheless, efforts at conservation have increased the number of eagles surviving in the wild. In 2007, the Department of the Interior officially removed the bald eagle from the list of threatened species protected under the Endangered Species Act, 16 U.S.C. §§ 1531-1544.