And a fighter.
The 2-year-old bird was rescued this year
by a New Mexico nonprofit that assists wounded birds of prey after the creature
was electrocuted on a power pole in the southern end of the state.
His body was ravaged by the electrical force.
But he survived.
“They never live after accidents like this, but
this one did. He’s just incredible,” Lori Paras, founder of the Santa Fe Raptor Center, told the Los
Angeles Times.
The center has a long list of dramatic rescues
of such birds as turkey vultures, Mississippi kites, red-tailed
hawks, peregrine falcons and American kestrels — birds that flew into
barbed-wire fences, were hit by cars or shot illegally by hunters. But after
eight years, Paras says, the organization is in jeopardy of being shut down.
Paras and her team of wildlife experts, who
operate on a shoestring budget of $60,000 a year, are running out of
funds and have just enough money to make it to the end of next month. To make
matters worse, hers is one of just two facilities in the state licensed to
handle golden eagles.
Part of the reason is that two other bird rescue
outfits have recently closed down and now Paras is overrun with squawking,
majestic birds. She has 21 in rehabilitation at her center, double its
capacity. She also has 11 year-round residents she uses in a school education
program over nine New Mexico counties.
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