Bald eagle receives rare surgery in P.E.I., heads to new home in Halifax
It’s believed to be second bird in the world to get spinal operation
He won’t be able to soar into the skies or skim the waters with his wings, but a bald eagle treated at a veterinary college at the University of Prince Edward Island after being hit by a car in October 2021 is doing well and settling in a new home.
Bald eagle 450 — the 450th patient of the Atlantic Veterinary College hospital in 2021 — is believed to be only the second bird in the world to receive surgery for a spinal cord compression.
“It was maybe done on a penguin like 20 years ago, but there were no real papers on it,” wildlife technician Fiep de Bie said in a recent interview, adding that the procedure is “sometimes” done on cats or dogs.
“That was very exciting. A week after the surgery, the eagle was able to stand, so we knew that we were going in the right direction,” de Bie said.
When 450 was brought into the clinic, he had extensive head injuries and small cuts and bruises on his legs, she said. “He had a lot of blood on his head and all his feathers on his head were gone.”
A week after he was admitted, she said staff noticed the eagle wasn’t able to stand.
A CT scan confirmed a spinal fracture, de Bie said. “It also showed a spinal cord compression. The nerves are sort of pinched. That caused paralysis.”
And while the spinal surgery was a success, she said it was the secondary injuries that were particularly troubling. The bird, she said, had a long recovery ahead.
“We considered euthanasia a couple of times,” she said. “We thought, ‘Well, are we going to heal all of this? Is it going to happen?’ But this eagle showed so much determination and improvement every time that we were so encouraged that we kept on going … He went outside, he started perching, his feet were healing, so from there, there was no looking back. It was quite special.”
De Bie said eagle 450 has “quite the personality” and described him as a “talker.”
He is partial to quail and his favourite toy was a bright, bubble gum pink kiddie pool that he liked to dip and clean his beak in, she said.
As the bird’s health improved, she said staff began to look for a home.
They turned to Hope for Wildlife in Seaforth, N.S., which rescues, rehabilitates and releases wild animals, and also educates people about them. Hope Swinimer, founder of the centre, said they plan on calling him “Buddy,” she said.
The bird will be driven in Friday from P.E.I. to Halifax and take up residence in a 15-metre-long, threemetre-high enclosure built for him that boasts an ocean view to one side and a wooded area on another.
This eagle showed so much determination and improvement every time that we were so encouraged that we kept on going … It was quite special.
FIEP DE BIE WILDLIFE TECHNICIAN