Five people are facing a combined 43 federal and provincial charges, including hunting of birds of prey and unlawful possession of wildlife for the purpose of trafficking, according to the Alberta Fish and Wildlife Enforcement Services (FWES).
Among the accused is an American fugitive, who FWES said it had learned in 2024 was living on the Stoney Nakoda First Nation west of Calgary after fleeing the United States.
FWES said it had received reports of the American killing eagles on Stoney Nakoda and Eden Valley First Nations land last year.
This March, an investigation was launched after reports came in of the American and another accused poacher shooting eagles and hawks from a truck near Cochrane, Alta.
The five accused face 34 charges under Alberta’s Wildlife Act and nine under the Criminal Code of Canada. The charges include hunting wildlife for which there is no open season, unlawful possession and trafficking of wildlife, and careless transportation and storage of firearms.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Montana, the American was one of two facing charges for trafficking bald and golden eagles killed on the Flathead Indian Reservation.
Of the other four facing charges in Canada, two live in Mînî Thnî and the other two in Calgary.
“Poaching is a crime that robs our province of wildlife that is central to the lives and livelihoods of many Albertans,” said Public Safety and Emergency Services Minister Mike Ellis in a statement.
Eagle feather headdress, raptor talon dance stick among items sold
FWES said search warrants executed on the trucks and homes of the American and another suspect led to them finding “multiple freshly removed eagle feet with talons, feathers, blood and other raptor parts, as well as unsecured firearms.”
In a separate undercover operation launched by FWES, three suspects “sold various items to undercover officers, including a bald eagle feather headdress, black bear claw necklaces and a raptor talon dance stick,” the agency said.
Eagles are ‘source of spirituality’
“There’s a whole thing that people aren’t really seeing as to why Indigenous people harvest and, let’s say, wish to acquire eagle parts,” said Iskotoah’ka William Wadsworth, a Blackfoot researcher from the Kainai Nation. “The eagle is a very powerful source of spirituality and spiritual guidance for the Indigenous people all across the whole continent.”
Eagle feathers and body parts are needed for some ceremonies, and laws prohibiting the harvesting of raptors complicates that, Wadsworth said.
Alberta is home to numerous birds of prey, including eagles, hawks, falcons and owls — all of which are protected from hunting and other forms of harassment under Alberta’s Wildlife Act.
Indigenous people can apply to receive raptor parts and feathers for spiritual, cultural or ceremonial purposes through the provincial government. These cannot be sold or traded.
Poaching birds of prey is a ‘recurring problem’
Alberta Birds of Prey Foundation managing director Colin Weir said the most likely raptors to be targeted by poachers in southern Alberta include bald and golden eagles, along with Swainson’s and red-tailed hawks, which are relatively common in the area.
Weir, who has worked with thousands of birds from across Alberta since 1984 through his work at the Coaldale wildlife rehabilitation centre, said the poaching of birds of prey is “a periodic issue” across North America.
“It seems to be a recurring problem that just won’t go away, just because there is such a high demand for the feathers and feet,” he said.
He said both of Alberta’s native eagle species are prized by poachers, but bald eagles “tend to be quite tolerant of people, so it is quite easy for people to get quite close to them, which makes them very vulnerable being taken by poachers.” Golden eagles, meanwhile, are more rare and elusive, he said.
The province lists bald eagles and golden eagles as sensitive species with low population density throughout Alberta, with protection deemed necessary for the recovery of both birds. Provincial data suggests there are between 100 and 250 golden eagle breeding pairs left in the province.
