SITKA -- Alaska Raptor Center officials in Sitka say a bald eagle that had been shot had to be euthanized.

KCAW says an X-ray revealed a bullet inside the eagle. The bird was a female with a brood patch, an area where feathers have been plucked out to incubate eggs with warm skin.

Veterinarian Victoria Vosburg says the eagle was shot in an elbow. She says the injury could not have been repaired to the point where the bird could fly or hunt again.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service spokesman Bruce Woods says eagles in Alaska were never listed as endangered or threatened species, but they are still protected under the federal Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act. The raptor center's executive director, Debbie Reeder, says the eagle was euthanized Thursday.