WILDLIFE CENTER OF VIRGINIA TRANSFERS TWO BALD EAGLES TO CAPE MAY COUNTY ZOO

The Wildlife Center of Virginia, a leading teaching and research hospital for native wildlife, has transferred two non-releasable adult Bald Eagles to the care of the Cape May County Zoo. The birds will become part of a new Bald Eagle exhibit opening at the zoo later this year.

The two birds being transferred are:

• Patient #07-1737, likely a male, was found by a landowner in Page County, Virginia. The bird was captured and transported to the Wildlife Center by Mark Kilby of the Luray Zoo and admitted on July 27, 2007. The bird received a complete physical examination, blood and fecal tests, other lab work, and x-rays. The eagle had been shot and suffered a variety of wounds, including a fracture of the ulna and damage to the retina, blinding the eagle in one eye. Center vets operated on the eagle, installing metal pins in the ulna to repair the fracture. During the past eight months, the eagle has been treated with antibiotics, anti-inflammatories, and pain medication, fed daily [a diet of fish, rats, and mice], and examined by the Center's veterinary team on a weekly basis.
  
  [Animals admitted to the Center are given sequential patient numbers - in the order in which they are admitted. Patient #07-1737 was the 1,737th patient admitted to the Center during 2007, out of a total patient-count for the entire year of 2,333 animals.]


• Patient #07-2302, likely a female, was found by quail hunters in eastern Caroline County, Virginia , brought to Waynesboro by transporter Debbie Brandan, and admitted as a patient to the Wildlife Center on December 16, 2007. This eagle also had been shot and suffered from a variety of wounds, including a fracture of the ulna and damage to the retina, blinding the eagle in one eye. During the past three months, the eagle has been treated with antibiotics, anti-inflammatories, and pain medication, fed daily [a diet of fish, rats, and mice], and examined by the Center's veterinary team on a weekly basis.
  
  During the past two months, these two eagles have been housed together in one of the Wildlife Center's large flight pens

Female eagle #07-2302, and male eagle #07-1737

These birds are among the 36 Bald Eagles admitted during 2007 - a single-year record for the Center's 25-year history. Ed Clark, President and Co-Founder of the Wildlife Center, noted that it has been several years since the Center admitted an eagle with gunshot wounds. While the Bald Eagle was "delisted" and removed from coverage of the Endangered Species Act during 2007, other statutes still protect the eagle. The federal Bald and Golden Eagle Recovery Act of 1940, for example, provides for up to a $5,000 fine, a year in prison, or both, for killing or otherwise harming an eagle. These penalties could double for a second offense.

Thus far in 2008, the Wildlife Center has admitted 10 Bald Eagles.

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.

The Bald Eagle population in New Jersey has seen a similar rebound. In the early 1980s, there was only one active Bald Eagle nest in the state. Today there are an estimated 59 nesting pairs in New Jersey.

[+] Wildlife Center wildlife rehabilitators Tracy Marshall [left], with Eagle #07-2302, and Dani Stumbo [right], with Eagle #07-1737

Every year, about 2500 animals - ranging from Bald Eagles to chipmunks - are brought to the Wildlife Center for care. Since its founding in 1982, the nonprofit Center has cared for more than 49,000 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.

During 2007, the Center marked its 25th anniversary and received from the National Wildlife Federation the prestigious National Conservation Achievement Award for exemplary leadership in conserving wildlife and connecting people with nature. Additional information about the Wildlife Center is available at www.wildlifecenter.org.

The Cape May County Zoo is a facility of nearly 80 acres. The zoo, located in Cape May Court House, is home to nearly 500 animals, representing almost 200 different species of mammals, birds, amphibians, and reptiles. Later this year, the zoo will be opening a new exhibit on the Bald Eagle. Additional information about the zoo is available at www.capemaycountygov.net.