SAUK CITY, Wis. — Four bald eagles were released into the wild Saturday afternoon in Sauk City after months of rehabilitation with the Raptor Education Group, Inc.
The non-profit based in Antigo released two adult and two juvenile eagles along the shore of the Wisconsin River. At least three of the four birds had been poisoned by lead and were receiving treatment with REGI. For one of the eagles, the release marked a return to the wild for the first time since last April.
Marge Gibson, the co-founder and director of REGI, said birds getting poisoned is a growing problem throughout Wisconsin.
“Lead poisoning is all too common, it comes from the lead ammunition in the case of the eagles,” Gibson said. “Anything that’s shot with lead ammunition, the lead fragments and if there’s a guts pile, or animals left out where the food hasn’t been harvested — the eagle is a scavenger, they like to pick up dead things. We have to become better stewards and understand that it’s a a real problem in our environment.”
REGI says it cares for and treats about 1,000 birds each year.
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