Law enforcement in Stanton County, Nebraska, arrested two Hondurans Tuesday near a recreation area with a dead bald eagle in their possession.

At around 4 p.m., the Stanton County Sheriff’s Office received a call that a car was going through the caller’s private field near a state wildlife management area. Residents occasionally hunt in the area.

Upon arriving at the property, law enforcement found two 20-year-old Hondurans, Ramiro Hernandez-Tziquin and Domingo Zetino-Hernandez, neither of whom could speak English. Communication was done between the parties via a translation app.

Telling deputies that they had killed a vulture, they opened the trunk, where instead a dead bald eagle had been stored along with an air rifle and BB pistol.

The pair had planned to clean, cook and eat the eagle, according to law enforcement. Both men were written up a citation for possession of the bald eagle, a misdemeanor. However, Stanton County Sheriff Mike Unger was not certain they understood the situation.

“I can’t tell you what their demeanor was at that time. Did they or did they not know it was a North American bald eagle? I have no way of knowing. They are Honduran citizens,” Sheriff Unger told The New York Times.

Unlike the vulture, the bald eagle is a federally protected species. The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission has since seized the dead eagle and the air rifle used to kill it.

Mr. Hernandez-Tziquin was also cited for not having a driver’s license despite operating a motor vehicle. Since the initial charge of eagle possession was a misdemeanor, neither man has been taken into law enforcement custody. 

No further charges have been filed, but an investigation into the incident could continue.

• Brad Matthews can be reached at bmatthews@washingtontimes.com.