After months of intense treatment, a Bald Eagle in the care of the Audubon Society of Portland has made a full recovery from severe lead poisoning. He was released back into the wild Sept. 20 on the bank of the Columbia River near Longview, Wash.
The eagle was originally scheduled for release Aug. 23, but the day beforehand sustained a soft-tissue injury while flying in Portland Audubon’s off-site flight cage. When it became clear this week that the eagle’s injury had healed, Portland Audubon veterinarian Deb Sheaffer scheduled an immediate release.
“It was in the eagle’s best interest to release him as quickly as possible,” said Sheaffer. “He was in excellent health and had once again met all of the standards we set for birds going back into the wild.”
While recovering from his injury, the eagle spent time on the ground and ended up damaging his tail feathers. To get him ready for release, members of Audubon’s animal rehabilitation staff used a method called imping to replace the damaged feathers with healthy ones molted by another eagle.
Found in May near Longview, Wash., the adult eagle likely became poisoned after eating the remains of an animal shot with lead ammunition, ingesting fragments of ammunition along with the carcass. Veterinarians credit a state-of-the-art lead-testing machine provided by the Oregon Zoo for quickly diagnosing and treating the poisoned raptor. In addition to having high levels of lead in its blood, an X-ray revealed metal in the bird's stomach.
“It’s always exciting to release rehabilitated wildlife, but particularly so in this case,” said Sheaffer. “The eagle was just so sick when it arrived at our door, and staff and volunteers have put many hundreds of hours into caring for the bird – it’s very rewarding to see him head back into the wild.”
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Video by Veronica Rose and Aaron Nelson.
The eagle was originally scheduled for release Aug. 23, but the day beforehand sustained a soft-tissue injury while flying in Portland Audubon’s off-site flight cage. When it became clear this week that the eagle’s injury had healed, Portland Audubon veterinarian Deb Sheaffer scheduled an immediate release.
“It was in the eagle’s best interest to release him as quickly as possible,” said Sheaffer. “He was in excellent health and had once again met all of the standards we set for birds going back into the wild.”
While recovering from his injury, the eagle spent time on the ground and ended up damaging his tail feathers. To get him ready for release, members of Audubon’s animal rehabilitation staff used a method called imping to replace the damaged feathers with healthy ones molted by another eagle.
Found in May near Longview, Wash., the adult eagle likely became poisoned after eating the remains of an animal shot with lead ammunition, ingesting fragments of ammunition along with the carcass. Veterinarians credit a state-of-the-art lead-testing machine provided by the Oregon Zoo for quickly diagnosing and treating the poisoned raptor. In addition to having high levels of lead in its blood, an X-ray revealed metal in the bird's stomach.
“It’s always exciting to release rehabilitated wildlife, but particularly so in this case,” said Sheaffer. “The eagle was just so sick when it arrived at our door, and staff and volunteers have put many hundreds of hours into caring for the bird – it’s very rewarding to see him head back into the wild.”
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VIDEO
I don't understand the mentality of hunters who refuse to use LEADFREE ammo! They are poisoning wildlife and their own families
~So glad that people are there to help the eagles & other birds! Nice to see them set free!~ Thanks for sharing this~
I LOVE THIS...IM AN ANIMAL LOVER AND THE BALD EAGLE IS DEFINITELY MY FAVORITE BIRD....BEAUTIFUL..INTELLIGENT..STRONG..PROUD..ETC...