Injured bald eagle found in Stafford County dies of lead poisoning
STAFFORD COUNTY, Va. (ABC7) — UPDATE: The injured bald eagle discovered by a hunter last week in Stafford County has died of lead poisoning.
When the eagle was taken in for treatment, the Blue Ridge Wildlife Center said it had only a 10 percent chance of surviving because his blood had a toxic amount of lead.
Bald eagles are often affected by eating fish that consume lead sinkers or animals that are shot with lead bullets.
The hunter who found the sick eagle is urging people who hunt or fish to switch from lead to copper rounds or other alternates in hopes of saving other animals from the same fate.
Earlier:
A bald eagle is fighting for his life because he ingested lead bullet fragments.
But the bird has a fighting chance thanks to an unlikely hero— a hunter.
Eric Freitag said he was hunting in Stafford County on Sunday night when he stumbled upon the injured bald eagle. He saved it by calling Stafford County Animal Control.
Freitag did not know scavengers, such as bald eagles, are affected by eating fish that consume lead sinkers or animals that are shot with lead bullets.
“It really set home to me because I am a very ethical hunter,” Freitag said.
Dr. Jen Riley with the Blue Ridge Wildlife Center said the bald eagle has a 10 percent chance of surviving because his blood has a toxic amount of lead.
“We are honestly surprised he has made it this long,” said Dr. Riley.
Immediately it looked like a lead-poisoned bird. We are kind of used to seeing these at this point, unfortunately, so we did a test and it was already too high to read.
During the last 3 years, only one bald eagle brought to the Blue Ridge Wildlife Center in Clarke County did not test positive for lead, although not all the eagles that tested positive had deadly levels of lead.
“It is not a good way to die so we are really doing anything we can to keep them comfortable and treat them as quickly as possible,” Dr. Riley said.
Now, Freitag is urging other hunters to switch from lead rounds to copper rounds or other alternates. He is even starting a Facebook page to save other animals from the same fate as the bald eagle he helped save.
“It shouldn’t take a bald eagle to make us change our ways because all the raptors can be affected and a lot of other animals, but I mean, come on, it’s the bald eagle,” Freitag said.
