An extremely rare and endangered golden eagle was saved from dying earlier this month after being rescued in Bourget, Ont. The weak and thin bird was brought to the Ottawa Valley Wild Bird Care Centre, where it was nursed back to health. “This was an exceptionally rare case for us, not to mention across Ontario, as an endangered species,” said Sabrina Banfield, the avian rehabilitation manager at the centre. “As far as we can tell throughout our records and things like that, we have never received a golden eagle in for care before.” On May 2, the eagle was found on the verge of death in a forest nearly an hour outside of the city. “We do think that she was probably suffering from an older injury that made her too weak to carry on,” said Banfield. “It was extremely, extremely thin and the rescuers had found it just on a trail with nobody around, no vehicles either, so it was so skinny and weak. We had to do a lot of fluids right away to get her nutrition back up.” It was brought to the Ottawa Valley Wild Bird Care Centre, where staff worked around the clock to nurse the bird back to health. The adult eagle required specialized care. “We obviously have to give them a lot of space and it’s a lot more dangerous for handling them as well, so there’s a lot more personal protective equipment that we have to wear, no one staff member handling at a time with her,” said Banfield. Slowly over several weeks, the eagle became more alert and mobile, gaining weight and strength. “She consumed a total of 24 kilograms of meat, she loved chicken and she didn’t really have a taste for fish, which is not surprising,” Banfield said. After being nursed back to full health at the facility, the golden eagle was released back into the wild on Saturday. “It was an incredibly rewarding experience,” Banfield said.
