For the second time in less than a year, a bald eagle has been found dead in Carbon County.

The immature bald eagle was discovered on Sunday in a wooded area near the intersection of Trachsville Hill Road and Pohopoco Drive, Towamensing Township.Wildlife Conservation Officer Cory Bentzoni said that the eagle was shot and killed with a firearm, likely before Jan. 23."These majestic birds cannot protect themselves from people intent on doing them harm," Bentzoni said. "We are hopeful that someone will step forward with information concerning this senseless act."It has not yet been determined whether the bald eagle was a male or female, according to William Williams, information and education supervisor for the Pennsylvania Game Commission's Northeast Regional Office in Dallas."It would require an internal investigation," Williams said. "It's not something we routinely do in a case like that."Because females tend to be larger than males, Williams speculated that the bald eagle was probably a female."This eagle would have probably been under 5 years of age because of the lack of color on the head and tail feathers," he said. "Eagles reach sexual maturity between 4 and 5 years of age."Williams said the bald eagle was just taken off the state threatened list this past year.But, it is federally protected under the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, and is a protected species under the Game and Wildlife Code.Therefore, Williams said that a person could be charged federally for killing a bald eagle or golden eagle, and that the punishment could be fines in the thousands of dollars, with potential prison time."This eagle was discovered after it had certainly been on the ground for a while because it was covered by snow," he said. "The longer you get away from when an animal is killed, the more difficult it is to find the person that did it. The case gets colder."The shooting comes after Pennsylvania Game Commission officials announced in May that a Lehighton man was charged in the shooting of a bald eagle outside Andreas.Game Commission officials said at that time that multiple charges were filed against Carl Marion, 46, for shooting the eagle.The eagle was shot on a back road near the Schuylkill and Carbon County lines. The eagle died shortly after.It is not known whether that eagle was a male or female.Readers reported that the eagle was nesting just off Route 895 for four years across from Bake Oven Campground about a quarter mile from the intersection.Wildlife Conservation officer Joel Gibble received a call from a person who reported hearing a gunshot and finding an injured eagle, which died shortly thereafter.He responded to the scene near the intersection of Germans Road and Stone Mountain Road, spoke to the witness and recovered the bird.A news release was issued seeking additional witnesses and information about the shooting.A short time later, Gibble received information from numerous sources directing him toward Marion.During the investigation, Gibble and Wildlife Conservation officer Cory Bentzoni also recovered remains of five great blue herons in the vicinity of the defendant's property.Citations were filed by Gibble before District Justice Casimir Kosciolek of Lansford.Marion was charged with one count of disturbance of wildlife, and six counts of the unlawful taking of protected birds.At that time it was said the total fines and restitution could reach $3,900.Anyone with information on this latest incident is asked to contact the Northeast Region Office of the Pennsylvania Game Commission at 570-675-1143.