It was a bizarre situation. A bald eagle stood in the middle of the road in Clearwater, Florida. When police officers arrived, they realized the eagle may have been nibbling on some roadkill when a car hit her.
Unable to fly away, cops surrounded the eagle, closing off two lanes of traffic to protect her. It’s no shock that they would go through such great lengths.
In the 20th century bald eagles were on the brink of extinction. In the 1950s, there were as few as 450 nesting pairs due to the use of the pesticide DDT being sprayed on their eggs.
It was only through the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act in 1940 that efforts were taken to protect the precious creatures. Our national animal remained on the endangered species list until 1995, then finally was removed from the threatened species list in 2007.
Officers worked with rescuers to safely capture the bird and take her to get treatment. Veterinary specialists discovered she had a chipped bone on her wing and was badly bruised, thus preventing her from being able to take flight.
Surgeons at Owl’s Nest Sanctuary for Wildlife operated on the bird. The eagle will be in their care until she is able to return to the wild.
“She’s very lucky,” Kris Porter, a rescuer, told CBS 5.
Please SHARE to applaud these officers for going to such great lengths to help this precious creature.
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