EL PASO, Ark. — A bald eagle has been returned to the wild after being treated in White County for lead poisoning.
Rodney Paul, director of the Raptor Rehabilitation Center at El Paso, tells KARK the bird received chelation treatment, which involved calcium EDTA injections.
That compound binds with the toxic metal and allows it to pass out of the bird’s body.
The ill bird had been found in late November near Ozark in western Arkansas.
Paul points out the Raptor Rehabilitation Center is not open to the public, and interaction with the raptors is kept to a minimum during treatment in order to aid with the transition back to life in the wild.
This is the second time the facility has been able to successfully treat a raptor with lead poisoning before releasing it.
Paul says the bird likely ate parts of an animal that contained lead from a bullet.