Rescue of a Crowned Eagle

Rescued Crowned Eagle

Crowned eagles are some of the most majestic eagles found in Africa, they occur commonly in thickly wooded and forested areas where they hunt mainly monkeys and small antelope. Crowned eagles are deadly birds capable of killing prey even larger than themselves, they are equipped with very large talons and a crushing strength of 3500 pounds per square inch in their claws!

About a week ago I was out walking in a valley when I came across this young Crowned Eagle that lay in the grass, I thought it was dead but when I got closer I saw he was alive.

It was a really cold morning around 3 degrees, so I took my jacket off and covered him in order to pick him up. I know very little about taking care of injured birds but fortunately my neighbour from Mkuze Falls Private Game Reserve Mathew Tucker and his wife Bronwyn know a great deal  about working and looking after birds of prey and I contacted them for help. Mathew immediately took the bird, assessed its general condition and concluded that it’s a young bird that recently left the nest and was probably just a bit low on calories especially with the cold weather we had last week. Mathew thought that if we feed it and keep it warm for a week we could try and release it again, he managed to feed it and kept him warm so the eagle’s strength came back quickly. A week later we were hopeful that he would fly off into the sunset but the big bird needed some more care, we then contacted our good friend and veterinarian Dr Mike Toft to assist.

Click on the link below to view the video  

Attempted-release-of-the-young-Crowned-Eagle-.MP4

Mike took the bird this past Monday and will be staying with him for a while until it’s ready to be moved to a facility in Pietermaritzburg from where a professional would assess whether he could be released back into the wild. 

Click on the below link to see the video of this majestic  yet dangerous youngster getting stronger every day 

Youngster-is-getting-stronger-every-day-.MP4

We are hopeful that it will be released back into the wild but only time will tell, currently the young eagle is gaining strength and looking good in Mike’s hands. We will keep our followers posted on the animal’s progress. I would also like to thank Mathew and Bronwyn Tucker for immediately assisting and looking after it and also Dr Mike Toft of Zululand Wildlife Treatment Centre who is currently treating the eagle.

Alwyn Wentzel