The Executive Director for Wildlife Haven Rehabilitation Centre says caring for a shot bald eagle last week was demoralizing for her staff.
Zoe Nakata says the centre at Ile des Chenes received a phone call on Friday after a woman from the Grunthal area heard a gunshot on her property. When she went to investigate, she discovered a bald eagle that had been shot. The bird was still alive, but unable to fly.
Nakata says this woman took all the proper steps by reporting the incident to conservation officers and then contacting Wildlife Haven Rehabilitation Centre.
"Quickly our team members got in our rescue truck, we got to retrieve the eagle and got it straight to our centre," she says.
According to Nakata, the gunshot wounds were severe, which she says is typical when an animal is directly targeted. She says the bird was in critical condition when it arrived, suffering from a broken wing and a bullet lodged in its chest. Nakata says her team worked quickly to make sure it could stabilize the patient and control the pain.
"Unfortunately, it was a catastrophic wound and so the only option in this case was humane euthanasia," she adds.
Nakata says her team could at least take a little bit of solace in the fact that it was able to ease the suffering and provide a comfortable passing for the animal.
Nakata admits that when the bald eagle first arrived at the centre, there was certainly a thought that it could survive the shooting. However, after completing a physical assessment, Nakata says it was determined that the animal was suffering and would not recover.
Wildlife Haven Rehabilitation Centre has started tracking the number of animals that come into their care, that are victims to bullet wounds or lead poisoning. Nakata says on average they probably treat between 10 and 15 of these animals each year. She notes that number has grown considerably in recent years.
"It's enough of a problem that together with the province we've decided that we need to track these instances and see what the trends are," she says. "It can just help in terms of monitoring the situation and ensuring compliance by the conservation officers."
Nakata says when an animal comes into their care that was intentionally wounded, it is very difficult for the entire team. She notes their goal is to get animals healed and back into the wild, and then when someone intentionally shoots a bald eagle, like what happened on Friday, it is demoralizing.
"These are the same colleagues that have to make that decision to compassionately euthanize this animal," she says. "It's very heavy for them."
Nakata adds in this particular case, what happened to this bird, a protected species, is not okay.
Nakata says Wildlife Haven Rehabilitation Centre probably treats between 15 and 20 bald eagles each year. She notes currently they have three patients that are on the road to recovery. Nakata says bald eagles come in for all sorts of reasons, including car collisions or getting injured in the wild.
Meanwhile, Manitoba Conservation was able to locate and interview the individual responsible in Friday's shooting. The accused is an adult male from the Rural Municipality of Hanover who has been charged under the Wildlife Act for hunting on private land without permission and for killing or attempting to kill a protected species. Fines for these offences totalled $1,158. The individual's high-calibre rifle was also seized.
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