VALLEY PARK, Mo. – One talkative eagle is a good sign for Roger Holloway and the World Bird Sanctuary after it lost part of its beak from a gunshot.
“It’s a really complex treatment that this eagle is going under right now,” Roger Holloway, director at World Bird Sanctuary, said. “Its energy is up and has gained some weight, which is good, but it also came in with lead poisoning… so this bird is a snapshot of the challenges they can face in the wild.”
This summer, World Bird Sanctuary and wildlife hospital have seen six bald eagles suffering from gunshot wounds. The specialist at the sanctuary had to rebuild a beak as it hopefully heals.
“Before surgery, you can see the deficit or the break where it was shot,” Raptor Rehab Tech Kylee Schooley said. “That whole piece is missing. But the bone seems to be intact, and the growth plate underneath is all intact, so we are hopeful it will all grow. It’s just going to take a lot of time.”
A series of pins and dental epoxy are being used to help treat the bird. The eagle will undergo another surgery Thursday before beginning a lengthy rehabilitation to be released back into the wild.
World Bird Sanctuary is working with the Missouri Department of Conservation and local law enforcement to find the person responsible for injuring this eagle.
“You can’t say, ‘I didn’t know what it was,’” Holloway said. “If you’re hunting for something specific, you are supposed to know what that is. I wouldn’t call this a mistake—it’s something where someone has a gun and they want to take potshots at things.”
