SEQUIM — Whether a young bald eagle shot on the West End last week will fly again is unclear.
A spokesman for the Northwest Raptor & Wildlife Center, Matthew Randazzo, e-mailed the following message to the Peninsula Daily News this morning:
“I do not feel comfortable currently stating that the eagle is ‘unlikely to ever fly again.’ Yesterday’s X-rays have shown that, if the eagle can make it out of its current critical state, there remains potential for it to regain use of its wing since the fracture is not at the joint.
“The verdict over the weekend was more pessimistic, but, in light of new information, at this point I think it would be premature to discount his chance at recovery. That’s, after all, why the Center exists.”
An X-ray image of the damaged wing can be seen by clicking the icon below the photo at right.
Earlier report:
SEQUIM — A young bald eagle was clinging to life Monday under constant monitoring by a Sequim veterinarian after it was found shot last week.
“We almost lost the eagle [Monday],” said Matthew Randazzo, spokesman for Northwest Raptor & Wildlife Center.
“The eagle suffered a fractured ulna bone in its left wing from a bullet wound from what we believe to be a .22-caliber rifle in the morning of Dec. 15.
“There’s no way to know its long-term prognosis as of yet.”
Shooting a bald eagle is illegal. Both the wildlife center in Sequim and the state Department of Fish and Wildlife are seeking information about the shooter.
The eagle was found in a field near Beaver last Wednesday, Randazzo said.
“The person who did this is still at large,” Randazzo said.
“I wish they could see the suffering this innocent animal is going through.”
Northwest Raptor & Wildlife Center Director Jaye Moore received the report of the bird and phoned Brian Fairbanks, a Fish and Wildlife officer based in Forks, who found the eagle and brought it to the Sequim center that afternoon.
Veterinarian Maya Bewig at Greywolf Veterinary Hospital in Sequim cared for the bird, where it remains in intensive care.
The eagle’s wing is broken where the bullet fragments were imbedded, Randazzo said, adding that the bird appears to have other injuries as well and that it is unlikely to ever fly again.
Being a young eagle — born last summer — the bird is fully brown and hasn’t reached full size.
Bald eagles do not fully develop the distinctive white plumage on their heads and tails until the fourth year.
Bald eagles were removed from the federal list of threatened and endangered species in 2007 but remain protected under the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act, according to U.S. Department of Fish and Wildlife.
A first-offense violation of the act can result in a fine of $100,000, imprisonment for one year or both.
Penalties increase for additional offenses, and a second violation of the act is a felony.
To watch a video of the eagle in treatment, visit http://tinyurl.com/olyeagle.
Anyone with knowledge of the shooter is asked to e-mail Randazzo at Matthew@NWRaptorCenter.com or state Fish and Wildlife at 877-933-9847.
He said that the Raptor Center is raising money for the care of the eagle as well as other injured birds.
For more information, visit http://tinyurl.com/25raptor.
