Banner photo credit:  L. Caskenette

The golden eagle is a young one – it arrived on August 7th. Conservation Officers brought the eagle from Watson Lake to the Yukon Wildlife Preserve’s Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre.

Upon arrival the eagle weighed 2.3kg. It had a fracture to scapular (not much we can do just needs time to heal). With some rest time and observation the eagle was then moved to the large flight pen on August 11th. He weighed 2.6kg at that time. A healthy individual should weigh in around 4-5.5kg, while females are slightly larger and heavier.

This individual needs to gain some more weight to get stronger before it will attempt any flying. On Thursday, our Veterinarian, Dr. Maria Hallock weighed the eagle in at 3.25kg. Gaining 600g in the last two week is a positive sign of recovery. The eagle has been eating well – anywhere from 3-6 quail/day (each one weighing 200-250g). We will continue to monitor his weight and movement/behaviour. We expect to see him recover, fly and build up muscles to return to the wild, timing remains up to him!

 What’s Up Yukon connected with us to get the latest story on the Golden Eagle that is in care at the Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre at the Preserve.  This eagle can be found working on his flight and recovering in the large outdoor aviary, as he overwinters with us at the Preserve!