BALD EAGLE TO BE SET FREE AFTER HEALING FROM GUNSHOT WOUNDS

WHEN: 5/21/05 (Saturday) at 4:30 pm
WHERE: Pipestem State Park

A Bald Eagle was found October 16, 2004 by Mr. & Mrs. John Walls and their family on their Mercer County farm in Speedway, WV. He was quite weak and was suffering from gunshot injuries to his body and right wing. His left wing was also badly broken from falling out of the sky. TRAC Executive Director Wendy Perrone picked the bird up from the Walls family and with the assistance of volunteer and neighbor Marko Jorden, administered emergency treatment and got him stabilized. Marko had named him Comanche by the end of the initial intake procedures as a tribute to the eagle’s spirit.

The US Fish and Wildlife Service and the WV Department of Natural Resources were notified and an investigation began. The shooting of a Bald Eagle (sometimes commonly referred to as an American Eagle) is a Federal and State crime and carries penalties of up to 10 years in jail and thousands of dollars in fines.

The following day Comanche was taken to TRAC Staff Veterinarian Dr. Bill Streit at All Creatures Veterinary Clinic in Princeton for x-rays and full diagnosis. The x-rays showed multiple and severe fractures to the right metacarpals as well as two fractures to the left ulna. They also showed gunshot pellets throughout his abdomen area, and the fractured wrist was highly infected. Worries about the bird ending up with pneumonia from the infection or worse yet having the bones not heal because of the damage done from the infection were high. His chances at flight (let alone ever being released) were given a guarded 50%.

Long months of intense and expensive medical care and physical therapy ensued. The gunshot wounds in the metacarpals had to be flushed and cleaned, medications given and the whole wrist re-splinted several times a day. As the fracture sites stabilized, range of motion exercises began several times a day to ensure that the fractures did not heal in such a manner as to limit later flight.

By early February, 5 months after he was found, Comanche was ready to try his wings in a flight cage. At first progress was slow and painful as his wings began the process of getting ready to hold his weight in the air again. By mid-April, he had gained enough strength and agility to raise hopes for a release in another 6 weeks. On the evening of May 14, he passed his final tests and Dr Streit gave his agreement that Comanche was now ready to fly free.

It has been a long, hard, and at times very difficult healing time for this bird. Now 7 months after he was found, Comanche will once again be able to soar with his family group in the New River Gorge and surrounding areas. The release of this Bald Eagle represents a proud moment for those people who have supported this long and uncertain effort, and for everyone who cares about the symbol of our Country and the wild things that make this State so wonderful to live in.

Comanche will be released in a ceremony at Pipestem State Park at 4:30 pm on Saturday May 21, 2005.

For more information, please contact Three Rivers Avian Center at 1-800-721-5252 in WV or if you are outside the State, 304-466-4683. The public is invited and encouraged to attend. Come celebrate this happy and unusual, once-in-a-lifetime event!

On the Web: www.tracwv.org