Rehabilitators hold two partially blind bald eagles that have been sent from Virginia to the Cape May Zoo to live.

Eagle injured in Caroline County living new life in New Jersey zoo

Date published: 4/10/2008

By RUSTY DENNEN

A bald eagle that was shot and blinded in one eye in Caroline County last December has a new home at a New Jersey zoo.

Quail hunters found the bird, an adult female, on the ground in the Tignor area of eastern Caroline. They called authorities who transported the eagle to the Wildlife Center of Virginia in Waynesboro.

X-rays showed about a dozen lead pellets lodged in her body. The bird was struck with shotgun pellets typically used for game such as squirrels and rabbits.

One pellet cracked a bone. Another lodged in the bird's eye, damaging her retina.

During her three-month stay at the center, the eagle was treated with antibiotics, anti-inflammatories and pain medication. The bird dined on fish, rats and mice, and was examined weekly by the center's veterinary team.

The wildlife center typically releases back into the wild bald eagles that fully recover. An eagle with an injured eye cannot be released, so a permanent home must be found.

The Cape May County Zoo, on 80 acres near the Jersey shore, has nearly 500 animals, with 200 species of mammals, birds, amphibians and reptiles. Later this year, it will be opening a new bald eagle exhibit.

The zoo had a golden eagle, but the bird died. In consultation with the wildlife center on treating that bird, the zoo agreed to revamp its enclosure for bald eagles.

"We asked them if they wanted to switch and they ran with it," said Dave McRuer, the wildlife center's director of veterinary medicine.

The eagle from Caroline has some company.

Another bird, found in Page County, near Luray, with similar injuries, was also sent to Cape May. That bird also had a broken ulna and was blinded in one eye. The pair were housed together during their convalescence in Virginia.

The two eagles are among 36 of the birds of prey admitted to the wildlife center last year. That's the most for a single year in the center's 25-year history.

The majestic birds have made an impressive comeback in Virginia, particularly along the lower Rappahannock River, where hundreds gather to feed and nest in the late winter and early spring.

So far this year, 10 injured bald eagles have been admitted to the wildlife center.

Ed Clark, the center's president and co-founder, noted that it has been several years since the center admitted an eagle with gunshot wounds.

Rusty Dennen: 540/374-5431
Email: rdennen@freelancestar.com

Bald eagles were "delisted" last year from the Endangered Species Act because of a strong rebound of numbers nationwide, including the Fredericksburg area. In 1977 there were fewer than 50 bald eagle nests in Virginia. Today, there are more than 500 active nests. Eagles are still protected under the federal Bald and Golden Eagle Recovery Act of 1940, which provides for up to a $5,000 fine, a year in prison, or both, for killing or otherwise harming an eagle.

Date published: 4/10/2008

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