Poisoned Inver Grove Heights eagles return to the wild
A month after 11 bald eagles were found sick from suspected poisoning in Inver Grove Heights, officials are starting to release the rehabilitated birds back to the wild.
Officials from the University of Minnesota Raptor Center on Friday released six of the eagles at the Carpenter Nature Center near Afton. A seventh eagle was released last week at the nature center on the St. Croix River.
Raptor Center officials have been caring for the eagles since they were brought to the center in early December with suspected poisoning from the same agent, pentobarbital, used in euthanasia solutions. Eagles can get secondary poisoning if they scavenge the carcass of an animal that was chemically euthanized.
Of the 11 poisoned eagles, three also were suffering from severe lead poisoning, a common affliction in birds of prey. Those three are still being treated, but doctors are optimistic on their prognosis, said Jennifer Vieth, Carpenter’s executive director.
One of the eagles, which also was infected with the avian flu, has died, she said.
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