PATIENT: Bald Eagle, #12-0030

LOCATION OF RESCUE:  Prince William County, Virginia

INJURY:  Lead toxicity

ADMISSION DATE: January 11, 2012

OUTCOME: Died January 12, 2012

A mature Bald Eagle was found down in Manassas in Prince William County on January 10 and was taken to a veterinary clinic in Burke, Virginia. The veterinary at the clinic could not find any wounds on the bird and took a set of radiographs.  On January 11, a volunteer transporter picked up the eagle and brought it to the Wildlife Center of Virginia.

Upon admission, the Bald Eagle #12-0030 appeared to be showing signs of lead toxicity.  Dr. Miranda quickly performed a physical examination, and drew blood for the Center’s in-house lead testing machine.  No injuries were found other than an old keel fracture, but the lead analyzer confirmed that the bird was suffering from lead toxicity – at levels that were too high for the Center’s machine to read.  

While there are a variety of lead testing machines on the market, the one at the Wildlife Center reads levels up to 0.65 ppm.  Studies at The Raptor Center in Minnesota have shown that levels over 1.0 ppm are usually associated with damage or destruction of the optic nerves, rendering the bird blind.

A blood sample will be sent to an outside lab for further testing – these results should be available within a few days.  In the meantime, chelation therapy was started.  Due to an increased respiratory effort, the eagle was placed in an oxygen cage after the physical examination.

On the morning of January 12, the eagle was still not standing.  Treatment will continue and the bird will be transferred to a critical care chamber so that it may continue to receive oxygen therapy.

January 12 update, 2:00 p.m.

After a morning of continued respiratory effort, despite oxygen therapy, Bald Eagle #12-0030 died this afternoon.

January 20 update

The lead results cam back from the outside laboratory — so the Wildlife Center staff received clarification on how high the “off the charts” levels were.  The eagle had lead levels of 3.4 ppm.

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