In 1782, the bald eagle was elected the national symbol of the United States of America, but by the early 1960s it was nearly extinct in the continental United States. A combination of many dangers, the main one being the pesticide DDT, the bald eagle was on the brink of extinction. However, thanks to conservation measures enforced by the US government, the bald eagle came back from the brink and was removed from the endangered species list in 2007. The main downfall of the bald eagle was the pesticide DDT . DDT, otherwise known as andychlorodiphenyl trichoorethane, does not dissolve in water or decompose in the environment. This causes it to be absorbed by small animals or aquatic plants. The contaminated plants or small animals were then eaten by fists. These later fish were then collected and eaten by bald eagles. Now, the higher DDT traveled in the food chain, the more integral it became to the animal's fate. This caused the eagles to lay eggs with weak shells which, in turn, caused the population to decline. After the government found between...