WILDLIFE CENTER OF VIRGINIA TO RELEASE BALD EAGLE ON WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 25

Bird, Treated At Wildlife Center, Will Be Released at Mason Neck State Park

The Wildlife Center of Virginia, the nation's leading teaching and research hospital for native wildlife, will release an adult Bald Eagle on Wednesday, October 25 at 1:00 p.m. at the Visitors Center at the Mason Neck State Park in southern Fairfax County, Virginia.

Participating in the release will be Ed Clark, President and co-founder of the Wildlife Center. Also expected to attend is Fairfax County Animal Control Officer Enna Lugo, who participated in the initial capture and rescue of the eagle.

The Bald Eagle was found on the ground near the 6500 block of Parish Glebe Lane in Kingstowne in Fairfax County. The bird was captured by Officer Lugo on September 25 and admitted to the Wildlife Center in Waynesboro. X-rays revealed that the eagle had an enlarged heart, enlarged kidneys, and lung abnormalities, consistent with aspergillosis, a fungal infection in the lungs Wildlife Center vets began treating the eagle with antibiotics and antifungal and anti-inflammatory drugs. Since its admission, the bird has eaten well and has steadily gained weight. The latest x-rays indicate that the eagle's heart and lungs look normal. The bird has spent time in the Center's 60-foot flight pen and seems able to fly well.

It is estimated that the bald eagle population of North America numbered about half a million before European settlement. With the loss of habitat, hunting, and the effects of DDT and other pesticides, the U.S. eagle population plummeted. In 1977, there were fewer than 50 bald eagle nests in Virginia.

Today, the bald eagle population in Virginia is on the rebound. There are now more than 500 active bald eagle nests in the Commonwealth.

Every year, nearly 3,000 animals - ranging from Bald Eagles to chipmunks - are brought to the Wildlife Center for care. "The goal of the Center is to restore our patients to health and return as many as possible to the wild," Clark said. "At the Wildlife Center, we treat to release."

The Wildlife Center of Virginia is an internationally acclaimed teaching and research hospital for wildlife and conservation medicine. Since its founding in 1982, the nonprofit Center has cared for more than 46,000 wild animals, representing 200 species of native birds, mammals, reptiles, and amphibians. The Center's public education programs share insights gained through the care of injured and orphaned wildlife, in hopes of reducing human damage to wildlife. The Center trains veterinary and conservation professionals from all over the world and is actively involved in comprehensive wildlife health studies and the surveillance of emerging diseases. Additional information about the Wildlife Center is available at www.wildlifecenter.org.

Mason Neck is part of the Virginia state park network. It is on a peninsula in the Potomac River and provides prime habitat for Bald Eagles and other birds. [Additional information about Mason Neck is available at www.dcr.state.va.us/parks/masonnec.htm.] The park connects with the 2,000-acre Mason Neck National Wildlife Refuge - established in 1969 as the first National Wildlife Refuge specifically established to protect essential nesting, feeding, and roosting habitat for Bald Eagles. The Wildlife Center has used Mason Neck as a release site for eagles before; in addition to providing prime eagle habitat, park and refuge officials are able to keep an eye on newly released birds to be sure that their readjustment to the wild goes smoothly.