WILDLIFE CENTER OF VIRGINIA TO RELEASE BALD EAGLE ON FLAG DAY - THURSDAY, JUNE 14

The Wildlife Center of Virginia, the nation's leading teaching and research hospital for native wildlife, will release a Bald Eagle on Thursday, June 14 at 11:30 a.m. at Westover Plantation, on the James River in Charles City County.

Participating in the release will be Ed Clark, President and co-founder of the Wildlife Center. Also expected for this eagle release will be Amber Kimmich of Powhatan, a wildlife rehabilitator, and representatives of the Henrico County Animal Control Office. Kimmich and animal-control officers helped in the initial rescue of this eagle.

The bird to be released is a juvenile eagle, likely hatched in 2006 and likely a female. The eagle had a mid-air collision with some power lines near Richmond in early April and was admitted to the Wildlife Center on April 2, dehydrated and with burns on its wing tips. The Wildlife Center did a complete diagnostic workup, including x-rays and blood work. The bird was treated with antibiotics and anti-inflammatories, was given cage rest, and has recovered well from her injuries. She was recently placed in one of the Center's large flight pens, where she has demonstrated that she can now fly and is ready for return to the wild.

It is estimated that the Bald Eagle population of North America numbered about half a million before European settlement. With the loss of habitat, shooting, 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.

During 2006, the Wildlife Center admitted a record 29 Bald Eagles. Thus far in 2007, the Wildlife Center has admitted 18 Bald Eagles - about 50 percent ahead of last year's record-setting pace.

The release of the Bald Eagle by the Wildlife Center coincides with Flag Day. Like the flag, the Bald Eagle has long been an important symbol of the American Republic; the eagle was included in the Great Seal of the United States in 1782. In 1787, the eagle was selected as the official emblem of the United States. The Bald Eagle appears on U.S. currency, U.S. government buildings and passports, and is on the logo for the U.S. Postal Service.

Every year, about 2,500 animals - ranging from Bald Eagles to opossums 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, celebrating 25 years of service during 2007. Since its founding in 1982, the nonprofit Center has cared for more than 47,000 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.

The Bald Eagle will be released on the grounds of Westover Plantation [c. 1730] on the north shore of the James River. The Plantation provides expansive views of the James and is across the river from the James River National Wildlife Refuge. The 4,200-acre refuge was created in 1991 to protect nesting and roosting habitat for the threatened Bald Eagle. The refuge hosts one of the largest eagle roosts on the East Coast. Additional information about Westover Plantation is available at www.jamesriverplantations.org/Westover.html.