LUBBOCK, Texas — A golden eagle has been transported to the South Plains Wildlife Rehabilitation Center on Friday morning after flying into a telephone pole in Nazareth.
Loriann Kaake delivered the eagle. She said a father and his daughter saw the eagle fly into the telephone pole and called an animal hospital in Amarillo.
“Our golden eagle was found by [Jose and Nancy],” Kaake said. “They made sure to get him into the shade.”
Kaake said the transport was a new experience.
“This is our first golden eagle,” Kaake said.
Executive director of the wildlife rehabilitation center, Gail Barnes said this is not her first time working with eagles. She said the reason the eagle had to be transported to Lubbock is because in order to keep and rehabilitate an eagle, a permit is necessary.
“They’re in the panhandle we get them this time of year they migrate in and we start getting them,” Barnes said.
She said the animal hospital in Amarillo completed blood work and x-rays, then made its way over to the Hub City.
“I noticed one of the wings is droopy it’s not broken it’s a soft tissue injury,” Barnes said. “A lot of them come in with asper which is due to stress. It’s a fungus in the lungs. This one flew into a telephone pole because it probably did not have breath or air to fly so it now has a head injury too.”
Barnes said the golden eagle will be on medication for ten days. Afterward, it will be reevaluated, but it is not known when the bird will be released back into the wild.
“We have a lot of exciting things going on since the eagle is here,” Barnes said.
Barnes also mentioned the bird will likely be banded with a transmitter once it is released.
