The Bald Eagle
The bald eagle is the national bird of the United States and is now common in the U.S skies. But, in 1963 there were only 417 pairs of eagles in the lower 48 states. Some humans did not like them. They would hunt, trap them in cages, and destroy their eggs with DDT. DDT is a bug spray. When bald eagles ate insects that were sprayed with DDT and when they sat on their eggs, the eggs broke because the shells were too thin. Congress made the bald eagle a protected bird, so if any of these things happened the hunters or people that sprayed the food crops with DDT would either be sent to jail or be punished.
But it did not work. The shooting continued and they poisoned the eagles, and this made Congress a little mad. The Congress passed laws that it is illegal to shoot or trap or do anything deadly to bald eagles. They banned DDT from the United States.
The bald eagle lovers found ways to help them by protecting their nests and eggs from hunters. For this act the bald eagle was under protection for about 50 years until it made a comeback!