Rehabilitated Golden Eagle Released by AEF
November 26, 2011
In 2010, a Golden Eagle was accidentally caught in 2 steel leg-hold traps which were baited with deer meat. At first, the eagle caught a talon in his left foot; then, struggling to free itself, the eagle fell into the second trap which tore into its breast. Struggling against both traps, the eagle sustained more and more damage to its chest. When it was discovered, the eagle was taken to the University of Tennessee School of Veterinary Medicine and treated for its injuries. The talon had to be amputated, and the eagle was then taken to the American Eagle Foundation for rehabilitation.
On November 15, 2011, in Shady Valley, Tennessee, this eagle – its chest wounds completely healed – was released. Shady Valley Nature Conservancy was chosen because the habitat was ideal for this type of bird and for the prey they favor.
Interview: Sterling Daniels, TWRA Survey Manager, Morristown, TN
Normally Mr. Daniels conducts mid-winter & nesting survey for Bald Eagles. This year, he will also help out with Golden Eagle monitoring, studying the migration of Golden Eagles passing through the area, and possibly finding nesting areas in East TN. No nesting sites in this area are currently known. The survey includes six sites equipped with cameras, and the TWRA is hoping to get more info on Golden Eagles passing through. The study will also be done in Middle Tennessee.
Interview: Gabby Lynch & Charles McQueen, Nature Conservancy, Shady Valley office
The Nature Conservancy in Shady Valley contains 150 acres of orchard bog and is a wetland restoration site. They have been buying land and restoring wetlands since the mid 1990s.
Ms Lynch talked about the things they care about on this preserve. The Southern Appalachian peatland/wetland ecosystems are very rare & are only found in this part of the state. Cranberries grow here, and this is the only known location of bog turtles, a threatened animal. The Shady Valley Nature Conservancy has also begun participating in Golden Eagle monitoring. She stated that Golden Eagles are a very important species that used to spend time in the Southern Appalachians, but for reasons that we don’t quite understand, they’re not seen in the Southern Appalachians anymore, and so the Shady Valley Chapter is part of a much larger international effort involving the US and Canada to try to track where Golden Eagles are spending their time up and down the Appalachian Mountain range. To that effect they have used this nature preserve orchard bog as one of the monitoring stations in the winter time, setting up cameras to try to catch Golden Eagles on film and add their data to the larger effort to figure out the migration patterns and life history and habitat preferencs of the eastern Golden Eagle.