Beyond Minnesota: Arrest warrant issued for man accused of killing thousands of birds – Outdoor News
Billings, Mont. (AP) — A federal judge issued an arrest warrant Jan. 8 for a Montana man who failed to show up for an initial court appearance on charges of killing thousands of birds, including bald and golden eagles. A second defendant pleaded not guilty.
The two men, working with others, killed about 3,600 birds on Montana’s Flathead Indian Reservation and elsewhere over a six-year period beginning in 2015, according to a grand jury indictment unsealed last month.
The defendants also were accused of selling eagle parts on a black market that has been a long-running problem for U.S. wildlife officials.
Magistrate Judge Kathleen L. DeSoto issued a warrant for Simon Paul, 42, of St. Ignatius, Mont., after he failed to appear at his scheduled arraignment in U.S. District Court in Missoula.
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Travis John Branson, 48, of Cusick, Wash., pleaded not guilty and was released pending further proceedings in the case.
The two defendants are charged with a combined 13 counts of unlawful trafficking of bald and golden eagles and one count each of conspiracy and violating wildlife trafficking laws.
Paul and Branson worked with others who were not named in the indictment to hunt and kill the birds, and in at least one instance used a dead deer to lure an eagle that was then shot, according to prosecutors. The men then conspired to sell eagle feathers, tails, wings, and other parts for “significant sums of cash,” the indictment said.
They face up to five years in federal prison on each of the conspiracy and wildlife trafficking violations. Trafficking eagles carries a penalty of up to one year in prison for a first offense and two years in prison for each subsequent offense.
ARIZONA
Report: Another Jaguar Seen in Southwestern U.S.
Phoenix (AP) — There’s been another jaguar sighting in southern Arizona, and it’s the eighth different jaguar documented in the southwestern U.S. since 1996, according to wildlife officials.
A hobbyist wildlife videographer who posts trail camera footage online captured the image of a roaming jaguar late last month in the Huachuca Mountains near Tucson, the Arizona Republic reported.
A spokesman for the Arizona Game and Fish Department said the agency has authenticated Jason Miller’s footage and has confirmed this is a new jaguar to the United States.
The animals were placed on the endangered species list in 1997 after being removed in 1980.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has designated about 750,000 acres of critical protected habitat for the jaguars along the border in southern Arizona and New Mexico.
Authorities said Arizona jaguars are part of the species’ northern population, including Sonora, Mexico’s breeding population.
“I’m certain this is a new jaguar, previously unknown to the United States,” said Russ McSpadden, a southwest conservation advocate at the Center for Biological Diversity.
Officials said the rosette pattern on each jaguar is unique – just like a human fingerprint – and helps identify specific animals.
