Ural veterinarians save the Red Book White-tailed Eagle

The bird was confiscated by Rosprirodnadzor from a local resident in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug. Orlan's wing was broken in three places.

A man picked up a bird of prey as a chick and kept it in his apartment in conditions that were inappropriate for a Red Book specimen. In addition, the owner tried to train the feathered one using cruel forms of treatment. A criminal case has been opened against the man under articles 52 of the Federal Law "On the Animal World" and 498 of the Federal Law "On the Responsible Treatment of Animals."

Today, the White-tailed Eagle was brought to Yekaterinburg and transferred to the Center for Monitoring and Rehabilitation of Birds of Prey "Kholzan" in the Sysert district. However, so far the rare bird will have to undergo a long course of treatment at the Ural veterinarians.

“The bird cannot fly. Three fractures of the wing are visible on x-rays: the humerus and the bones of the forearm. The fracture line is not clearly visible, which means that the damage to the wing is already old. Orlan will undergo an operation to restore the integrity of the bones through the use of special metal structures - metal osteosynthesis. Then there will be a rehabilitation period, which will take at least two months," - Igor Markovich Milshtein, Associate Professor at USAU, Researcher at the Ural Federal Research Center of the Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, radiologist at the Neovit Veterinary Clinic.

According to specialists from the Kholzan Center, the Orlan seized in the Yamao Autonomous Okrug will most likely have difficulty flying, and therefore will no longer be able to live in the wild. After treatment, the bird will be in captive conditions in a special nursery, among the same raptors that have suffered from human hands.

“Now the condition of the bird is terrible. We really hope that the veterinarians will be able to successfully operate on Orlan, and the bird will recover. At least until a quiet stay in an aviary in our center. We think it will happen by the end of the summer. By this time, the bird will also have replaced the terrible plumage that it now has, and will look completely different. This is the tenth Orlan in our kennel, six of them are crippled. I thank the Neovit veterinary clinic, which is the only one in the city that helps us with the treatment of birds free of charge. This is a very important work that allows you to save birds, including those in the Red Book,” said Oleg Anatolyevich Svetlitsky, DIRECTOR of the Kholzan Center for Monitoring and Rehabilitation of Birds of Prey.

Reference.
The white-tailed eagle (lat. Haliaeetus albicilla) is a bird of prey from the hawk family. Distributed from the southern borders to the forest-tundra. Rare and endangered species. The total number in RUSSIA is about 2500 pairs. It is in the Red Book.
"Holzan" is one of the largest Centers in Russia for the maintenance, rehabilitation, breeding of birds of prey. The center rehabilitates injured and sick birds. Those who have recovered are prepared for life in the natural environment and organized for release in habitats. Founded in 2003, it is located in the Sysert district of the Sverdlovsk region on 2.5 hectares of forest and is home to more than 50 species of animals.

Text and photo - Yulia Filimonova

12/20/2021