Yukon Wildlife Preserve releases rehabilitated eagle

A young eagle is flying high overWhitehorse after spending months in rehabilitation at the Yukon Wildlife Preserve.

In June, two photographers rescued the bird and its sibling after their nest collapsed. At the time, the two eagles were just eaglets, says Yukon Wildlife Preserve veterinarian,Maria Hallock. She says whenthe raptors arrived they weren't much bigger than house cats and were in rough shape.

"When the nest came down, one of them almost drowned the other one was found a little further away, but had really bad fractures to its wing," she said.

Over the next three months,Hallock and her team tried to nurse the eagles back to health, but finally had to euthaniseone of the birds after it became clear it would not be able to recover.

The second bird was released on September 2nd.

Garry Mussgnug, who rescued the birds, was the man to open the cage and let the eagle fly free.

He said releasing the bird of prey back into the same valley it was found just made sense.

"This area is a good food source," he said, noting that both the Icy Waters aquaculture facility and McIntyre Marsh are there. "It has plenty of fish and plenty of ducks," Mussgnug said.

"It was kind of a bittersweet thing, it's too bad what happenedbut, at the same time, it gives everyone an opportunity to see this animal up close and it gave the game farm a chance to see this animal up close and learn more about them."