Non-releasable juvenile Bald Eagle for education or static display

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Contact Bren Lundborg
Phone: 802-359-5001 ext 218
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Country: United States

Species: Bald Eagle

Is rehabilitation complete?: yes

This animal has potential as a :

off-site education animal
static display animal

This animal is: wild reared

Age: Juvenile

Reason for entering rehabilitation.:

Juvenile eagle was presented for rehabilitation after crash landing during fledgling or falling from the nest. She had a R shoulder soft tissue injury and suspected thoracic trauma. She recovered well and is fully flighted, but has a persistent R wing droop after exercise that makes us believe she is non-releasable. Radiographs available upon request.

Days in care: 179

Issues developed while undergoing rehabilitation.:

She has developed bumper wounds on both wrists despite trying different management options. She has consistently been pulling off bumper bandages, and we have changed perching and added branches to help reduce hitting her wings. In the last month or so we have started doing basic training with her, and she has gotten much calmer than she had been. She will allow food to be placed on a perch near her, eat with staff in her enclosure and has taken food from large tweezers several times, without any weight management, so appears to be amenable to training.

Body condition score (5 point scale as defined on https://nagonline.net/3877/body-condition-scoring/): 3.5

Can the animal express species-typical behaviors (e.g. eat appropriate whole foods, climb, perch, groom, dig, fly, swim, ambulate normally for species)?:

Yes, as mentioned above she is very mobile and completely flighted, but with a shoulder injury that would be a concern for survival in the wild.

Can the animal be handled without negative welfare affects?: yes

This is how the animal currently reacts when a frequent caregiver nears it (e.g. does it modify behavior, show signs of fear, agonism, habituation):

She has only had limited training work done by rehabilitation staff, under the guidance of our education team. She does show some fear behaviors- looking around, jumping between perches, but has been getting more comfortable around people with relatively little time/effort spent.

This is how the animal currently reacts when a stranger nears it (e.g. does it modify behavior, show signs of fear, agonism, habituation):

Similar behavior to above, but less likely or unwilling to eat while they are in the enclosure with her.

This animal is currently house : alone

Will the animal need continuous medical care (e.g. medication)?: no

Physical health welfare assessment: good life

Mental/emotional health welfare assessment: good life

More Information

She will need some work to get her bumper wounds healed up, but I think that will come with her being more comfortable around people. Frankly, we don't really have an ideal enclosure space for an eagle in prolonged care (her enclosure is roughly 9x13ft), which is part of the problem we've been having. She seems to only droop the wing after exercise, so does not seem as though she would need long term pain management, at least for a while, but that could be a conceivable need down the line.

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