Poachers and people who hurt animals for a living are the worst. Now it’s not going to make me a vegetarian anytime soon, but something needs to be done to people that are cruel to animals. It is particularly bad in Africa wear rescuers found this crowned eagle tied to a pole.
He was once able to fly the skies freely, but now he was tied up to a pole in a garage in Monrovia, Liberia. Waiting to be sold to the next highest bidder, the eagle’s future wasn’t looking that good. But that’s where the Disney part comes in this story!
An off-duty officer noticed the eagle and inquired about buying it…AND THE STING WAS ON!
The Dodo talked to Luke Brannon, manager for Libassa Wildlife Sanctuary, and he said:
“The officer told the men he wanted to buy it and directed them to where he’d meet them with the money. He rang ahead and organized for officers to arrest them.”
The men brought the eagle, tied up in a burlap sack and they were promptly arrested. They continued their lie and said they found it on the side of the road and thought it was an owl. Surprisingly they didn’t claim to be Nigerian Princes as well…
Libassa Wildlife Sanctuary came to the rescue and picked up the eagle to make sure it’s rehabilitation went smooth. Surprisingly there was only one major injury to it’s eye, other than that it was pretty healthy!
Brannon went on to say:
“Upon health checking when we got back, it was clear it had a floating ulcer on its right eye. This would require medicated drops four times daily to heal.
[But] with the eagle being extremely strong and feisty, coupled with the stress factor, it was decided once, twice daily maximum.”
Now we know those poachers were idiots, but it turns out that the eagle benefited from their dumb brains even more! They didn’t clip it’s wings or anything so it was a prime candidate to return to the wild.
It was only a couple of days of hanging at the facility and the eagle was already showing signs of improvement. It was moved to a larger flying enclosure and Brannon said, “It could fly well and was feeding well!”
After ten days of TLC at the sanctuary, the eagle was already recovered and ready to get back to the wild! They packed the eagle up, they must have been glad they never named him, and ventured off to the spot where he was captured.
Once they got there, they opened the hatch of the carrying case and the eagle let out a SCREECH!
The eagle stepped out, figured out what was going on and prepared for takeoff!
Brannon concluded with:
“Taking flight into the forest was something truly special to witness. We’re thankful to the FDA [Forestry Development Authority], as without their collaboration and quick thinking, this eagle would have either been sold for meat, or as a pet, both of which are illegal.”
