Golden eagle fully recovers, released into the wild

SAN RAMON, Calif. (KGO) -- A golden eagle is soaring high above the green hills outside San Ramon after an intensive month in rehab.

The 12-pound golden eagle was released into the wild after being found injured last month. "I don't know why she was grounded. I sort of suspect she may have been hit by a car, but I do know that she definitely hit her head," Wildlife Hospital Veterinary Director Guthrum Purdin said.

The bird was bleeding, unable to see out of one eye and disoriented. Veterinarians say she might have eaten rats that were poisoned. "These rats eat a little bit of this, they get sick, then they eat more, they get sicker and the eagles, the coyotes, the bobcats, they catch them. And the poison builds up," Purdin said.

It took drug therapy and slow rehabilitation for the eagle to recover. "She's put on weight, her eyes have recovered, that bruising that damaged to the head is all recovered and she's pretty much ready to go," Purdin said.

The long road to recovery began a little over a month ago when firefighters found the eagle and were in total disbelief. "There was an injured bird outside, so Eric came and grabbed me," Chris Conley said.

"And we were kind of joking around like it's not a hawk or eagle it's probably like a turkey or something and we went outside and sure enough it was a golden eagle," Eric Sabye said.

"I netted it with the animal control guy, it took two nets, the bird was so big," Conley said.

It turned out this eagle's been caught before and was part of a study to track eagles' flight patterns. "This is basically like putting a backpack on with two straps over the shoulders and two straps under the wings," one man said.

The solar-powered GPS will track her location until it falls off in a few years.

After a short hike up a hill, crews released the eagle into the wild.

She was soaring high and fighting over territory with a couple of red-tailed hawks.

As for the firefighters, they've pulled a few cats out of trees. But this time, they were happy to put something back into the trees.

"We're excited the doctor talked to us and said it probably would not have survived if we didn't do anything, so it's nice to see it back in the wild.