Posted on 07/06/2003 2:04:26 PM PDT by Willie Green
For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use.
WASHINGTON July 5 - Frolicking near a waterfall and shady trees, two injured bald eagles settled in to their new home at the National Zoo Wednesday.
Sam and Tioga are the first residents of an exhibit designed especially for bald eagles hurt in the wild.
Singer Dolly Parton turned out for the welcoming wearing a patriotic mini-dress covered in American flags.
Sam and Tioga were previously cared for by a foundation based at Parton's Dollywood theme park in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.
``We're very involved with saving the bald eagle, because it's very important,'' Parton said Wednesday. ``It is our national bird.''
The new habitat is open at the top, since the birds can't fly. Visitors can see Sam and Tioga up close by peering through an eagle blind.
While the eagles were both at Dollywood, they weren't in the same enclosure and are just getting to know each other, said zoo biologist Linda Moore. She said in time, scientists hope the birds will mate.
Sam, a female with a gunshot wound, came to the American Eagle Foundation from Alaska and is about 24 years old, said Al Cecere, president of the foundation. Tioga, a 5-year-old male injured in a fall, came to the foundation from Pennsylvania, Cecere said.
As he watched the birds get accustomed to their new home, Cecere said he felt some sadness.
``It's always hard to give up your children, but this is a graduation step for them,'' he said. ``There will be people around the world that will get to appreciate them here.''
The zoo has one other bald eagle that lives in a separate, enclosed facility since he can fly. Another bald eagle died at the zoo last year after becoming infected with the West Nile virus. Sam and Tioga were vaccinated against the disease, Moore said.
Due to abuse and the harmful effects of pesticides, the bald eagle was listed as endangered in the lower 48 states in 1973 when the Endangered Species Act was passed. Through conservation efforts, it made a comeback and was downgraded from endangered to threatened in 1995.
On the Net:
American Eagle Foundation: http://www.eagles.org/
Dollywood: http://www.dollywood.com/
National Zoo: http://natzoo.si.edu/ - AP
Sun, Jul. 06, 2003
Bald Eagle Killed at National Zoo
CANDACE SMITH
Associated Press
WASHINGTON - Officials at the National Zoo suspect that a large cat got into a bald eagle's enclosure and killed the bird, perhaps already weakened by fierce storms and unable to fly.
It is the latest in a series of animal deaths at the zoo.
The male eagle died Friday morning, the same day that the zoo celebrated a new exhibit designed especially for bald eagles hurt in the wild.
The dead eagle was housed separately from the zoo's two new eagles that were donated by American Eagle Foundation based at singer Dolly Parton's Dollywood theme park in Pigeon Forge, Tenn.
The 21-year-old eagle, found by a zookeeper early Thursday, had severe puncture wounds to his abdomen and back, spokeswoman Julie Mason said. Zookeepers suspect a large cat crept into the cage and attacked the eagle, who could have been injured during Wednesday night's fierce rain storms.
"It very likely is a bobcat, but we haven't for a 100 percent identified it as a bobcat, but I think we're leaning toward that," said Bill Xanten, zoo general curator.
Xanten believes the eagle could not fly and the cat took advantage of the situation.
"Under ordinary circumstances, I find it really hard to believe that a cat would take on a full grown bald eagle," added Xanten.
The eagles are about 29 inches to 42 inches long, can weigh up to 15 pounds, and have a wing span of up to 8 feet, making them one of the largest birds in North America.
Park police took casts of paw prints in the bird's exhibit, which is about 24 feet high, 40 feet long and 15 feet deep. Experts were looking at the casts and planned to study the bite patterns on the bird, Xanten said. They also set up cameras and traps using fish as bait inside the bird cage, hoping to catch the predator.
Small feral cats, attracted by the eagle's fish meal, had been in the exhibit before, but there were no problems, Xanten said.
The zoo is in Rock Creek Park and bobcats can be found in Maryland and Virginia, Xanten added.
The death comes shortly before the start of an independent review, conducted at the request of Congress, into recent animal deaths at the zoo.
A bald eagle died last year after becoming infected with the West Nile virus. Two red pandas that ate rat poison died in January and two zebras starved to death in January 2000. There has been at least a dozen other deaths including a lion, orangutan and elephant.
Al Cecere, president of the foundation that previously cared for the zoo's newest bald eagles, said Sunday he was not worried about the birds' safety.
"Whenever you have an organization that cares for literally hundreds of animals you're going to have some deaths on occasion," Cecere said. "It's just sad that that happened, especially on the Fourth of July."
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.