The Wildlife Center of Virginia, the nation’s leading teaching and research hospital for native wildlife, will release a Bald Eagle on Friday, December 26 at 1:00 p.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.

This young Bald Eagle [hatched spring 2008] was spotted on December 15 at the Suffolk Island landfill; the bird could not stand or lift its head and did not resist handling.  The eagle was first taken to the Midway Veterinary Hospital in Chesapeake where, in consultation with the Wildlife Center’s veterinary staff, the bird was treated with fluids and antidotes for potential lead and organophosphate [pesticide] toxicity.

The eagle was transported to the Wildlife Center in Waynesboro on December 16; upon admission, the bird was already showing improvement – it was standing and resented handling.  The eagle was given a complete diagnostic examination, including radiographs, blood tests, and a test for exposure to lead [which was negative].  The bird received a dose of Atropine [a medication for organophosphate poisoning] and by the end of the day appeared to have the energy of a healthy bird.   By December 18, the eagle was moved up to one of the Center’s large flight pens, where it has demonstrated that it is ready for return to the wild.

The eagle will be released at Westover, across the James River from a National Wildlife Refuge.  The 4,200-acre refuge was created in 1991 and hosts one of the largest eagle roosts on the East Coast.

The eagle to be released on Friday is the 25th eagle admitted to the Wildlife Center thus far in 2008.  Among the other eagles currently receiving treatment at the Center is another young Bald Eagle, hatched at the Norfolk Botanical Garden in April 2008, which has created a worldwide following through its online appearances on “Eagle Cam”.  That eagle was admitted to the Wildlife Center on May 22 with a severe case of Avian Pox.  The eagle underwent surgery on July 12 to remove remnants of a pox lesion and to correct a significant misalignment in the bird’s beak.

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, 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.”

Since its founding in 1982, the nonprofit Center has cared for more than 50,000 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.  Additional information about Westover Plantation is available at www.jamesriverplantations.org/Westover.html.

Slideshow animation of the release by Pete Prucha

photo by James Deal

photo by James Deal

Wildlife Rehabilitators Suzanne Doell (left)) and Tracy Marshall (middle) with Ed preparing the eagle for release. Photo by Henry Lapo

photo by Henry Lapo

photo by Henry Lapo