Arizona bald eagle rescue: Eaglet saved after swallowing fishing hook
Arizona bald eagle rescued after swallowing hook
A young bald eaglet underwent surgery at Liberty Wildlife after swallowing a multi-pronged fishing hook. The nine-week-old bird has been placed into a new foster nest near Flagstaff. FOX 10's Andrew Christiansen reports.
PHOENIX - A young bald eagle is getting a second chance at life just in time for the Fourth of July – Arizona Game and Fish biologists rescued the national bird after it swallowed a fishing hook.
What they're saying:
At Liberty Wildlife in Phoenix, a six-week-old eaglet was brought in. They did surgery on it and partnered it with another bald eagle named Paco.
Arizona Game and Fish biologists rescued a young bald eaglet near Willow Springs Lake in May and brought it straight to the hospital at Liberty Wildlife.
"He did great. He recovered really well," Jan Miller, Liberty Wildlife hospital medical director, said.
The bird had a fishing hook stuck in its mouth.
"They have multiple prongs on them, so you have to be really careful with that," Miller said.
Miller says eagles can pick up fish with hooks stuck in them and then feed that to their eaglets. Liberty Wildlife originally tried an endoscopy, but they could not reach the hook, so they had to do surgery.
"That hook was placed directly across from the heart and part of it was stuck in the esophagus through the esophageal tissue, and so from there, they were able to get part of things removed," Miller said.
Biologists rescued a six-week-old eaglet that swallowed a hook. After recovering with a foster eagle named Paco at Liberty Wildlife, the bird was integrated into a new nest near Flagstaff. (Photo courtesy of Liberty Wildlife)
Dig deeper:
The recovery involved another bald eagle named Paco, who fostered the eaglet for two weeks.
"Paco is the one that got to be the role model for him once he was able to go outside," Miller said.
Recently, the eaglet was able to leave Liberty Wildlife. But because it had been too long to return the nine-week-old eaglet to its original nest, Game and Fish biologists placed it in a new nest near Flagstaff with a chick the same age.
"It's amazing how well these guys foster. They pick up that chick right off the bat as soon as it starts showing any kind of signs of begging," Miller said.
The Arizona Game and Fish Department says while Arizona's population of nesting eagles is small, the state's eagle population is growing.
"You'd be surprised. Our biggest population is along the Salt River," Miller said.
Liberty Wildlife notes that the bald eagle they rehabbed is starting to become around the size of an adult eagle. Bald eagles reach their full size around 12 to 15 weeks.
Biologists rescued a six-week-old eaglet that swallowed a hook. After recovering with a foster eagle named Paco at Liberty Wildlife, the bird was integrated into a new nest near Flagstaff. (Photo courtesy of Arizona Game & Fish)
What you can do:
Liberty Wildlife
Report injured wildlife to the Arizona Game & Fish Department