What amazes me the most is that San Antonio has the largest rehabilitation facility for birds in the country.
John Karger is feeling good as he prepares to say goodbye to his latest patient after three surgeries and nearly six months of rehabilitation.
On Sunday, he will release an 8-pound adult bald eagle found shot and left for dead near the East Texas community of Groveton.
“It’s a great day, but it’s a sad day,” Karger said. “Because you know you’re putting it back in the environment where he was hurt.”
When 123 Green, as his chart reads, first came in to Karger’s Last Chance Forever Bird Conservancy in San Antonio, the bird could barely stand, let alone walk. Flying was out of the question.
A rancher found the injured bird on his property and called authorities. Karger and his team from nonprofit group removed a shotgun shell pellet from the bird’s thigh. The bird’s wing was extensively damaged.
“Imagine something like your wrist and something the size of your thumb going through it,” Karger said.
Every year, the conservancy rehabilitates about a half dozen eagles in similar condition — after they’ve crossed humans. They are generally harmed intentionally during horseplay, accidentally during a failure to recognize their presence or with malice by ranchers
“It’s hard to point the finger at one group, but by and large it’s people trying to protect their livestock,” said Special Agent Jim Stinebaugh with the Department of Fish and Wildlife.
He has investigated three eagle shootings over the past six years and thinks it largely comes down to people not understanding the birds and feeling threatened by their large size.
Karger’s latest patient arrived at his private rehabilitation facility — the largest of its kind in the country — on the North Side of San Antonio in September. Because of the severity of the bird’s injuries, Karger said he brought the animal to San Antonio to ensure that it would receive the best possible care.
“There are not many people who have a large enough facility and the skills to take care of bald or golden eagles,” he said, noting his background as a falconer and veterinary technician. “It’s the difference between going to a local doctor and a world-class facility.”
Bald eagles are harmless scavengers for the most part, and when ranchers do come across them eating livestock, more often than not, it is because the animal was already dead, according to Fish and Wildlife spokesman Tom Buckley.
The Endangered Species Act protected eagles from 1967 to August 2007, when their populations had reached 10,000 nests nationwide. The eagles are still federally protected under the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act, making it illegal to harm or kill them.
“Now that they’re de-listed, the loss of one bald eagle isn’t going to make a big difference to the population, but it is disturbing,” Buckley said. “It’s our national symbol, that in of itself has some meaning, (and) you can’t eat them, so what is the point of harming them?”
Authorities are investigating the shooting.
Under federal law, harming or killing an eagle is a misdemeanor, punishable by one year of jail time and a $5,000 fine. A second conviction can increase the fine to $25,000, add an additional year in jail and classify the guilty party as a felon.
At Last Chance Forever, 123 Green underwent two surgeries to its leg and one to its wing. Rehabilitation followed in an outdoor aviary to teach the eagle how to fly again.
Karger and his team do not name the birds they treat. Instead, they refer to it by the code on a tag placed on its leg.
Three weeks ago, he was cleared for take off.
Under an open sky on a East Texas prairie near Timpson, Karger will stand back and wave as 123 Green takes flight.
“You finally get over it when you can see them start to fly on their own,” he said.
Express-News Staff Writer Peter J. Holley contributed to this report.
