- Reaction score
- 1,676
The veterinarian and founder of the Cobequid Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre is frustrated after a bald eagle died Tuesday from lead poisoning that measured at "over maximum toxicity" levels.
The sick bird, believed to be a female, was found by a Department of Natural Resources worker in Cape Breton and rushed by a relay of volunteers to Helene Van Doninck's eagle pen in Hilden, N.S, on Christmas Eve.
"It was in bad shape," said Van Doninck, a specialist in the rehabilitation of birds of prey. "It was cold, and skinny, and not moving, and breathing funny, and doing all the lead signs."
She said blood tests quickly confirmed her diagnosis — the bird was severely poisoned with lead.
She immediately started chelation treatment, which binds with the metal and is expelled through the kidneys, but the bird died Tuesday.
"It was probably sick for weeks before we got it, and it's sad, and it's unnecessary," she said.
Read more here. (CBC)
Warning: Dead bird, don't eat.
The sick bird, believed to be a female, was found by a Department of Natural Resources worker in Cape Breton and rushed by a relay of volunteers to Helene Van Doninck's eagle pen in Hilden, N.S, on Christmas Eve.
"It was in bad shape," said Van Doninck, a specialist in the rehabilitation of birds of prey. "It was cold, and skinny, and not moving, and breathing funny, and doing all the lead signs."
She said blood tests quickly confirmed her diagnosis — the bird was severely poisoned with lead.
She immediately started chelation treatment, which binds with the metal and is expelled through the kidneys, but the bird died Tuesday.
"It was probably sick for weeks before we got it, and it's sad, and it's unnecessary," she said.
Read more here. (CBC)
Warning: Dead bird, don't eat.
