WILDLIFE CENTER OF VIRGINIA TO RELEASE BALD EAGLE ON SATURDAY, APRIL 19

The Wildlife Center of Virginia, the nation's leading teaching and research hospital for native wildlife, will release an adult Bald Eagle on Saturday, April 19 at the Visitors Center at Mason Neck State Park in southern Fairfax County, Virginia. The release will be part of the Eagle Festival sponsored by the Liz Hartwell Environmental Education Fund. The program begins at 11:00 a.m; the eagle release is set at the end of the program - at about 12 noon.

Participating in the release will be Ed Clark, President and co-founder of the Wildlife Center. Clark will be joined by Justus, a non-releasable two-year-old Bald Eagle that is a permanent resident of the Wildlife Center, serving as a conservation outreach ambassador.

The Bald Eagle to be released was found on December 22, 2007 by Len Phillips off of River Road in Chesterfield, Virginia. The eagle was taken first to Richmond area wildlife rehabilitator Amber Kimmich and then brought to the Wildlife Center in Waynesboro on December 23. X-rays revealed three shotgun pellets lodged in the bird and a fracture of its right coracoid [shoulder] bone. Wildlife Center vets put the bird in a body wrap and began treating the eagle with antibiotics and anti-inflammatory drugs. Subsequent examinations revealed that the coracoid fracture has healed. The Center's veterinary staff determined that the three lodged pellets pose no long-term threat to the eagle's health. In late February, the eagle was placed in one of the Center's large flight pens. The eagle has been exercised and has been flying well.

This bird was among the 36 Bald Eagles admitted during 2007 - a single-year record for the Center's 25-year history - and was one of three eagles admitted last year with a gunshot wound. Clark 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.

"Citizens across the nation are once again commemorating Earth Day. The resurgence of the Bald Eagle is one of the great success stories of the environmental movement," Clark stated. "I am honored to be returning this national symbol 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.

Every year, nearly 2,500 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 to 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 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. Additional information about the Wildlife Center is available at www.wildlifecenter.org.

Mason Neck is part of the Virginia State Park system managed by the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation. The park is on a peninsula in the Potomac River and provides prime habitat for Bald Eagles and other birds. Information about Mason Neck State Park, and directions, are available at www.dcr.virginia.gov/state_parks/mas.shtml.

The park connects with the 2,200-acre Elizabeth Hartwell 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 refuge was listed as one of the top 10 sites in the country for viewing Bald Eagles. Additional information about the Refuge is available at www.fws.gov/refuges/profiles/index.cfm?id=51610.

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.

A full schedule of activities for the Eagle Day Festival on April 19, including additional information on the 11 a.m. program, is available at http://www.hartwellfund.com.