Injured bald eagle rescued from Indiana highway
NEWPORT, Ind. (WISH) — A trooper found an injured bald eagle while patrolling in central Indiana and took it to a veterinarian, says an Indiana State Police sergeant’s tweet.
The tweet included a photo of the eagle apparently wrapped in black and red plaid cloth. The tweet sent Tuesday afternoon did not say when the eagle was rescued.
Sgt. Matt Ames says in the tweet that Master Trooper Mike Laney found the eagle along State Road 63 in Vermillion County, which borders Illinois. In the county, the road extends about 35 miles, from I-74 in the north to the city of Clinton in the south.
The tweet says, “M/Trp Laney carefully placed the injured eagle into his patrol car & transported it to a local veterinarian. Hopefully, the eagle will be soaring again soon!”
Bald eagles were named the national bird in 1782.
The Indiana Department of Natural Resources reports on its website that the state had over 350 nesting territories in 2020. That’s an increase from only two nesting sites found 31 years earlier in Indiana, when bald eagles were threatened by hunters and the use of pesticides.
Vermillion County’s east border is the Wabash River. A map on the Natural Resources website shows most bald eagle nesting territories in Indiana are along the Mississinewa, Salamonie, Wabash and White rivers; the East Fork White River; and Lake Monroe near Bloomington.
Indiana touts that it’s rebuilt its bald eagle population since the 1980s with the help of contributions to the Indiana Nongame & Endangered Wildlife Program.