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Saturday, July 19, 2008

Beak Job

Eagle Chick

Here is an interesting local story that I have been following for a few weeks now--

An eaglet that hatched inside the Norfolk Botanical Gardens park a few weeks ago was admitted to the Wildlife Center of Virginia located in the city of Waynesboro.

After two unsuccessful clutches, an adult eagle pair nesting on the property of the botanical gardens finally had success after one chick hatched on the 27th of April. But after what appeared to be an abnormal growth on the eaglets beak, the chick was removed at only 3-1/2 weeks old for further examination. After a thorough examination by the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries (VDGIF) veterinarian, it was decided to permanently remove the chick from the nest to provide it immediate medical attention.

Eagle Removed

Over a period of seven weeks, the growth on the eaglets beak was examined, probed, tested, treated and finally scheduled for surgery, but just days before the surgery the growth simply fell off. The eaglet is still being treated for minor beak deformation, but experts are optimistic that the eagle will reach full recovery.

Eagle Chick2

Follow the links below to read more about this:

http://www.norfolkbotanicalgarden.org/calendar/Ealgetremovalhighlights.shtml

http://snipurl.com/312d0

http://www.dgif.virginia.gov/eaglecam/

http://www.norfolkbotanicalgarden.org/calendar/eaglecamhighlights2008.shtml

http://snipurl.com/312ex

http://snipurl.com/312ed

 

...and

here's another story about a bald eagle that was shot by a poacher. More than three years after a poacher shot off her upper beak, a team of experts have attached an artificial beak, improving her looks and, more importantly, helping her grasp food. To read more about this interesting success story follow the link below:

http://snipurl.com/312ks

 

1 comment:

Kathie Brown said...

Wow, interesting stuff. Did they ever decide what the growth was? I have seen the other story about the eagle with the artifical beak on the news. It is amazing what we can do nowadays to save the wildlife around us.