Bald Eagle released in Lowndes County after 2 months of rehab

LOWNDES, Miss. (WCBI) – Bald eagles are known to be brave, have great dignity, and are symbols of our country. In January, a game warden found a wounded bald eagle in Lowndes County.

On Sunday, volunteers set the bird free after months of rehab.

In January, a bald eagle was found in Lowndes County. It had been shot and needed medical treatment.

Now after two months of healing, this national symbol is being released back to its home.

Executive Director for Mississippi Wildlife Rehabilitation Debbie Crum said she has been dealing with wildlife for years and the most rewarding part is to watch the animal be free and healthy.

“It’s another win for us anytime we can get any of our protected species from a hummingbird to a cardinal to a bald eagle. To us, it feels good here and we did everything that we could to make sure that bird came back,” said Crum.

But before the bird made its way to Crum, someone had to make a few calls.

Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks Game Warden Ryne Long was the first one to find the eagle injured and he said he tried his best to do what was needed.

“There’s a little bit of a different protocol when dealing with a bald eagle just because of how protected they are but most part it was about getting it into the right care for sure,” said Long.

After Long did everything he could to make sure this bird was in the right hands, he said he is happy to see it back where it belongs.

“It’s good when you get people pulling in the right direction for the right cause it’s just amazing that things like that can happen,” said Long.

And when it was time to release the eagle there were many people around to see her spread her wings.

“We knew there would be quite a few and we try to limit it for the bird’s stress levels and we want to do anything to try and reduce those stress levels. We do like to invite our officials and our officers that help with the capture of the bird as well as a couple of photographers because we want people to see how beautiful they are and how majestic they are when they do leave and when they are gone and this is where they need to be and this is where they belong,” said Crum.

This was the first of three eagles this year to be injured and sent to the rehabilitation center.

Crum said they are now actively asking for donations to help build a new eagle flight cage in order to properly take care of more eagles in the future.

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