CHOCOLAY TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WJMN) — The Chocolay Raptor Center in the Upper Peninsula says a bald eagle it helped rescue has died from suspected lead poisoning.

Jerry Maynard, co-founder of the Chocolay Raptor Center, says the adult male eagle was found in a woods near Iron River on Saturday. It was brought to the center Monday, which took it to a veterinarian that night. An X-ray showed pellets in the eagle’s stomach. Maynard suspects the pellets were made of lead.

The plan was for Maynard to take the eagle to Wild Instincts, a rehabilitation center in Wisconsin, but when Maynard began to prepare the bird for the transfer, he found that it was dead.

Maynard says the eagle’s body will now be taken to the Michigan Department of Natural Resources for a necropsy to confirm the cause of death.